Gender differences and typical nutrition concerns of the diets of preschool children – the results of the first stage of an intervention study

BMC Pediatrics

Research Article

Sylwia Merkiel-Pawłowska¹  Wojciech Chalcarz¹ 

[1] Food and Nutrition Department of the Eugeniusz Piasecki University School of Physical Education in Poznan, Królowej Jadwigi 27/39 Street, 61-871, Poznan, Poland;

关键词: Preschool children;    Nutrient intake;    Energy;    Macronutrients;    Vitamins;    Minerals;    Intervention;    Nutrition;    Diet;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-017-0962-1

 received in 2016-09-15, accepted in 2017-12-08,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNutrition in children has an important influence on health both in childhood and adulthood. Actions aimed at improving children’s nutrition are essential, not only to the children and their families, but also to the whole society. The aim of the study was to present the results of nutrient intake before starting a nutrition and physical activity intervention programme, to investigate gender differences in nutrient intake and to discuss whether the preschoolers’ nutrient intake is similar to the intake of their peers from other countries.MethodsNutrient intake was estimated from seven-day weighed food records kept by parents and preschool staff individually for 122 4–6-year-old children who attended two preschools in Piła, north-western Poland. Nutrient intake was calculated using Dieta 4.0 computer programme including water intake and intake of nutrients from dietary supplements. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics computer programme, version 21.0, according to gender. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Poznan University of Medical Sciences (reference number 886/08).ResultsBoys, in comparison to girls, were found to have statistically significantly higher intakes of total protein, total protein per kg of body weight, saturated fatty acids, total carbohydrates, available carbohydrates, lactose, sucrose, total water, vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin B2, vitamin B12, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Statistically significantly higher percentage of girls than boys had intakes of vitamin E below AI.ConclusionsGender was a significant factor of nutrient intake in the studied preschool children. The main nutritional concerns in the studied preschoolers’ diets, irrespective of gender, are typical of the diets of preschool children from various parts of Europe and indicate the need to work out common nutritional strategies to improve preschoolers’ nutrition across Europe to reduce future burden of diet-related diseases to the European societies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017