Le yaourt, un marqueur « universel » de la qualité de la diète ?

The objective of this work was to i) describe the dietary & nutritional patterns of French yogurt consumers and to ii) compare the French trends with other comparable studies in the world. In France, based on the nationally representative Food Behavior and Consumption survey (CCAF 2010), three groups of children (3-17 years, 1 171 subjects) and four groups of adults (25-64 years, 986 subjects) were studied. In children and adults, large consumers of yogurt (> 6 servings per week) had a more adequate dietary pattern - with more fruits, vegetables, soups & dairy products, compared to non-consumers or small consumers. We also observed among children a lower consumption of sweet products and fats and among adults, more fish and less prepared meals or alcoholic beverages. Nutritional intakes and adequacy to local recommendations (PNNS criteria) were shown to be better when yogurt consumption was higher. Yogurt can be considered as a marker of good nutrition patterns in France. These results were consistent with already-published data from several other countries in which we observed similar trends, despite very different dietary habits and types of markets. Yogurt could be considered “universally” as a marker of a good diet quality.