Young Children's Egg Consumption: Determinants and Policy Implications

Widespread concerns about cholesterol have resulted in lowering consumers' egg consumption. Children one to five years of age consume more eggs if their mother/caretakers eat more eggs, and they consume fewer eggs if their mother/caretakers have higher levels of education or if the children attend a child-care facility serving meals. Older children eat fewer eggs than younger children. Mother/caretakers' egg consumption is negatively affected by income levels and educational levels and positively affected by being non-Caucasian. Children's egg consumption is less responsive to factors that increase egg consumption than are adults' intakes. Children's mean cholesterol intake levels are higher than recommended levels for non-Caucasians, as opposed to Caucasians, and for all of those in low-income groups—the same groups whose egg consumption is highest when compared with those of other groups. The study's results indicate that there is a clear unmet need for nutrition education for mother/caretakers (and notably for Food Stamp Program participants), who are in lower-income and frequently less-educated groups and who, under the existing programs, receive very little or no education focused on healthful nutrition for young children. WIC is an appropriate vehicle for lessening cholesterol intake of young children in the highest-risk cordons for succumbing to premature arteriosclerosis.