It is widely recognised that our knowledge of the nutrient intake of pre-school children aged 2-5 years and of their nutritional requirements for growth, is poor. Consequently, opinion is divided on whether modified diets, aimed primarily at the prevention of future adult diseases, adequately support growth in pre-school children. Between May 1988 and April 1990 the nutrient intake and growth of 153 pre-school children from Edinburgh, aged 2-5 years, was assessed. 54 children repeated the study after an interval of 12 months to give a total of 207 assessments. Nutrient intake was determined by the 7 day weighed inventory method. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight and skinfold thicknesses. Supplementary information and social details are recorded by questionnaire. The data was grouped and analysed by age and gender of the children, and also by socioeconomic group. For each group of children a low mean energy intake of 80-85% of the current UK Estimated Average Requirement of energy was found (Department of Health 1991). The intake of other nutrients ranged widely, with group mean intakes at or above values of Recommended Nutrient Intakes, except for the intake of vitamin D which was very low and of iron in 2 year old children which was also low. The % of energy from fat, sugar, starch and dextrin varied considerably but no correlations were found with energy intake. Thus low fat or high sugar diets did not affect the average daily intake of energy. Such diets, however, did significantly affect the quality of the diet in terms of mineral and vitamin intakes per 1000 kilocalories. Also, highly significant correlations were found between intake of nutrients during the first and second survey of children studied twice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:660468 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Payne, J. A. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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