Food consumption and dietary behaviour of children from the Traveller community: data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey.

The Travelling community are an indigenous ethnic group of Irish people with a distinct culture and history of nomadism. Travellers differ from the general population in many aspects, including their lifestyle, culture and treatment by society(1). Based on the most recent census (2006) it is estimated there are 22 435 Travellers in Ireland, of these, 50.8% (11 398) are aged £ 18 years(2). The health status of Travellers is poor in comparison with the general population(3), but there is little information about Travellers¿ dietary habits. Furthermore, there appear to be no published studies investigating the diet of Traveller children in Ireland. Thus, data from the 2006 Irish HBSC Survey were employed to investigate reported food behaviour of school-going Traveller children.