A nutritional assessment of low income and multi-ethnic school children 9-12 years old and validation of alternative tools to measure fat intake

Despite the recognition that culturally diverse groups of children in low income areas are at elevated risk for future health problems, no dietary/nutritional studies have been reported on this population. Children aged 9-12 were sampled from schools selected on the basis of a poverty index and ethnicity. Nutritional information (24-hour recall, heights and weights) indicated children were growing well but a high proportion were overweight. A comparison of reported energy intake to calculated BMR indicated that overweight children under-estimated their intakes. Mean intakes met the Canadian RNIs except for calcium in 10-12 year old girls. Nutrient intake was related to family size, income and ethnic origin. Validation of two alternative tools to measure fat intake proved unsuccessful. In conclusion, dietary intake for these school children was adequate for all nutrients except calcium in 10-12 year old girls, but for approximately 40% of children, intake exceeded energy requirements.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.23898
Date January 1995
CreatorsJohnson-Down, Louise
ContributorsGray, Donald K. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001488829, proquestno: MM12208, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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