A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Nutrient intake variability and number of days needed to assess intake in preschool children




AuthorsErkkola M, Kyttala P, Takkinen HM, Kronberg-Kippila C, Nevalainen J, Simell O, Ilonen J, Veijola R, Knip M, Virtanen SM

PublisherCAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Publication year2011

JournalBritish Journal of Nutrition

Journal name in sourceBRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION

Journal acronymBRIT J NUTR

Number in series1

Volume106

Issue1

First page 130

Last page140

Number of pages11

ISSN0007-1145

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114510005167


Abstract
The duration of the period of time during which diet should be recorded for sufficiently accurate results on the usual intake of an individual is an especially challenging issue in prospective studies among children. We set out to describe nutrient intake variability in preschoolers and to determine the number of record days required (D) to estimate intake of energy and thirty-two nutrients. The diet and the use of dietary supplements were assessed with three consecutive daily food records including one weekend day in 1639 children participating in the population-based birth cohort of the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Project (DIPP) in Finland. Variance ratios and D stratified by sex and age groups were calculated for 455 (1-year-old), 471 (3-year-old) and 713 (6-year-old) children (born between 1998 and 2003). Within: between variance ratios and D increase with increasing age, and are slightly higher for girls. Vitamin A, cholesterol, n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, beta-carotene and folate intakes require the most replicates. Including supplemental intake has an impact on the variance estimates according to the proportion of supplement users. In the DIPP Nutrition Study with 3 d food records, the correlation coefficients between observed and true intakes of energy and thirty-two nutrients averaged 0.91 in 1-year-old children, 0.79 in 3-year-old children and 0.74 in 6-year-old children. For providing accurate nutrient intake estimates, three replicates of food records are reasonable in 1-year-old children but must be questioned for several nutrients in 3- and 6-year-old children. The accuracy of ranking boys is greater than that for girls.



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