01. tbl. 99. árg. 2013
Diet of six-year-old Icelandic children – National dietary survey 2011-2012
Aim: Knowledge of dietary habits makes the basis for public nutrition policy. The aim (of this study??)was to assess dietary intake of Icelandic six-year-olds.
Material and methods: Subjects were randomly selected six-year-old children (n=162). Dietary intake was assessed by three-day-weighed food records. Food and nutrient intake was compared with the Icelandic food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and recommended intake of vitamins and minerals.
Results: Fruit and vegetable intake was on average 275±164 g/d, and less than 20% of the subjects consumed ≥400 g/day. Fish and cod liver oil intake was in line with the FBDG among approximately 25% of subjects. Most subjects (87%) consumed at least two portions of dairy products daily. Food with relatively low nutrient density (cakes, cookies, sugar sweetened drinks, sweets and ice-cream) provided up to 25% of total energy intake. The contribution of saturated fatty acids to total energy intake was 14.1%. Less than 20% of the children consumed dietary fibers in line with recommendations, and for saturated fat and salt only 5% consumed less than the recommended upper limits. Average intake of most vitamins and minerals, apart from vitamin-D, was higher than the recommended intake.
Conclusion: Although the vitamin and mineral density of the diet seems adequate, with the exception of vitamin-D, the contribution of low energy density food to total energy intake is high. Intake of vegetables, fruits, fish and cod liver oil is not in line with public recommendations. Strategies aiming at improving the diet of young children are needed.
Gunnarsdottir I, Helgadottir H, Thorisdottir B, Thorsdottir I
Unit for Nutrition Research, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland & Landspítali, The National University Hospital of Iceland.
Table I. Consumption (g/day) of selected food from different food groups (Mean±standard deviation (SD) and distribution of the consumption). N=162.
Mean±SD | 5% | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 90% | 95% | ||
Vegetables, fruits and pure juice | |||||||||
Vegetables | 52±47 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 39 | 77 | 124 | 134 | |
Fruits | 136±102 | 3 | 24 | 57 | 114 | 201 | 292 | 318 | |
Pure juice | 87±107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 155 | 242 | 287 | |
Total (vegetables, fruits and pure juice) | 275±164 | 46 | 89 | 155 | 257 | 369 | 533 | 583 | |
Potatoes and cereals | |||||||||
Potatoes, new | 21±28 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 29 | 49 | 56 | |
French fries | 6±12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 37 | |
Bread, total | 80±39 | 30 | 38 | 52 | 71 | 104 | 127 | 151 | |
Whole grain bread, fiber ≥6% | 16±21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 23 | 48 | 59 | |
Breakfast cereals | 43±38 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 33 | 54 | 93 | 126 | |
Oatmeal | 16±36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 107 | |
Pasta og noodles | 19±29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 61 | 81 | |
Pizza | 12±28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 75 | |
Fish and meat | |||||||||
Fish and fish products | 21±24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 30 | 53 | 62 | |
Meat and meat products | 65±35 | 15 | 21 | 39 | 63 | 84 | 112 | 128 | |
Milk and milk products | |||||||||
Whole milk | 78±117 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 239 | 290 | |
Low fat milk | 102±144 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 137 | 301 | 385 | |
Skimmed milk | 17±49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 103 | |
Chocolate milk/cocoa | 32±53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 83 | 133 | |
Milk products* | 22±29 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 36 | 51 | 58 | |
Cheeses | 17±14 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 27 | 35 | 39 | |
Total dairy intake | 357±193 | 97 | 143 | 205 | 345 | 458 | 597 | 720 | |
Fats |
|||||||||
Butter and margarine | 9±8 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 21 | |
Sauces and dips | 13±11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 26 | 33 | |
Cod liver oil | 2±3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 8 | |
Beverages | |||||||||
Soda and soft drinks | 117±129 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 83 | 165 | 266 | 417 | |
Soft drinks | 71±99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 89 | 203 | 274 | |
Soda | 46±76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 151 | 220 | |
Water and soda water | 285±235 | 10 | 49 | 123 | 221 | 404 | 545 | 737 | |
Cakes, cookies, sweets and snacks | |||||||||
Cakes | 32±34 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 42 | 73 | 93 | |
Cookies | 13±18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 34 | 49 | |
Sweets and icecream | 32±33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 53 | 81 | 96 | |
Popcorn, snacks, nuts | 8±14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 32 |
* Milk products other than drinking milk and cheeses
Table II. Number and the proportion of six year olds (n=162) with dietary intake in line with the Icelandic food based dietary guidelines.
Food based dietary guidelines* |
Criteria Adjusted for six year olds |
Number n |
Proportion % |
Fruits and vegetables | ≥400 g of fruits, vegetables and pure juice per day | 30 | 19 |
Fish at least two times per week or more | ≥34 g per day, which equals a fish meal two times per week | 37 | 23 |
Whole grain bread and other fiber rich cereals | ≥2.5 g dietary fiber/MJ/day ** | 28 | 17 |
Milk products that contain less fat | 2 portions of milk or milkproducts daily (1 portion 200 g of milk products or ≥20 g of cheese) | 141 | 87 |
Oils or soft fat instead of hard fat | <10% of the energy from hard fat | 10 | 6 |
Moderation in salt intake | <3200 mg of salt per day*** | 7 | 4 |
Cod liver oil or other vitamin D source | ≥5 ml per day, which equals daily recommendations for vitamin D | 44 | 27 |
Water is the best soft drink | <10% of the energy from added sugar | 70 | 43 |
*Recommendations on diet and nutrition for adults and children from two years of age. 10
**The Nordic Nutrition Recommendation on intake of dietary fibre is used to assess adherance to this recommendation (≥2.5 g/MJ/day).15The reason is that the nutrient calculating program used for analysis, ICEFOOD, does not allow this categorisation except for bread.
*** The Nordic Nutrition Recommendation on salt intake: 15≤0.5 g salt/1000 kJ/day (0.5 g salt/239 kcal/day) corresponding to <3.2 g salt/day according to the energy intake in the present study.
Table III. Total energy intake, contribution of energy giving nutrients to total energy intake (E%) and intake of dietary fiber (g/MJ). N=162.
Mean±SD | 5% | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 90% | 95% | |
Energy (kcal) | 1543±324 | 1039 | 1161 | 1323 | 1550 | 1742 | 1906 | 1994 |
Protein | 15.4±2.9 | 10.7 | 11.7 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 16.9 | 19.6 | 20.5 |
Total fat | 32.2±4.9 | 23.9 | 26.0 | 29.2 | 32.0 | 35.8 | 38.5 | 40.1 |
Saturated fatty acids | 13.3±2.7 | 9.3 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 13.2 | 15.4 | 16.5 | 17.6 |
Cis-monounsaturated fatty acids | 10.1±1.8 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 11.2 | 12.5 | 13.2 |
Cis-polyunsaturated fatty acids | 4.7±1.5 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.9 | 7.9 |
Trans fatty acids | 0.8±0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
Carbohydrates total | 50.3±5.5 | 41.8 | 44.0 | 46.8 | 50.2 | 54.1 | 56.9 | 58.7 |
Added sugar | 11.2±4.5 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 11.0 | 14.5 | 17.1 | 18.8 |
Fiber (g/MJ) | 2.1±0.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
Table IV. Daily intake of vitamins, minerals and heavy metals. Mean±standard deviation (SD) and distribution of the consumption. N=162.
RDI* (2/3 af RDI) |
Mean±SD | 5% | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 90% | 95% | |
Vitamin A equalent (µg/day) | 400 (267) | 963±1051 | 223 | 282 | 421 | 630 | 939 | 1963 | 3635 |
Retinol(µg/ day) | - | 850±1032 | 177 | 241 | 308 | 508 | 778 | 1855 | 3582 |
β-carotin (µg/day) | - | 1262±1396 | 153 | 196 | 306 | 608 | 1794 | 3084 | 3798 |
Vitamin D (µg/day) | 10 (6.5) | 7.5±6.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 4.9 | 11.9 | 17.8 | 19.6 |
Vitamin E equalent (mg/day) | 6 (4) | 8.1±4.9 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 10.8 | 14.5 | 16.5 |
Vitamin B1 thiamin (mg/day) | 0.9 (0.6) | 1.2±0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 |
Vitamin B2 riboflavin (mg/day) | 1.1 (0.7) | 1.7±0.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
Niacin equalent (NJ /day) | 12 (8) | 25±8 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 29 | 36 | 39 |
Niacin (mg/day) | - | 15±7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 27 |
Vitamin B6 thiamin (mg/day) | 1.0 (0.7) | 1.6±0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
Folate (µg/day) | 130 (87) | 309±158 | 133 | 150 | 194 | 275 | 368 | 513 | 623 |
Vitamin B12 (µg/day) | 1.3 (0.9) | 5.3±3.3 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 5.9 | 9.0 | 14.1 |
Vitamin C (mg/day) | 40 (27) | 99±61 | 20 | 33 | 57 | 91 | 125 | 176 | 213 |
Calcium (mg/day) | 800 (533) | 812±246 | 428 | 513 | 628 | 790 | 996 | 1087 | 1174 |
Phosphate (mg/day) | 600 (400) | 1134±277 | 723 | 786 | 958 | 1126 | 1309 | 1459 | 1543 |
Magnesium (mg/day) | 200 (133) | 206±51 | 137 | 147 | 170 | 204 | 233 | 270 | 293 |
Sodium (mg/day) | - | 2032±563 | 1343 | 1395 | 1634 | 2004 | 2325 | 2649 | 2886 |
Potassium (mg/day) | 2000 (1334) | 2034±518 | 1254 | 1385 | 1710 | 2025 | 2334 | 2720 | 2836 |
Iron (mg/day) | 9 (6) | 11.1±5.1 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 13.7 | 17.1 | 19.9 |
Zink (mg/day) | 7 (4.7) | 9.5±4.8 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 8.3 | 10.4 | 14.5 | 20.6 |
Copper (mg/day) | 0.5 (0.33) | 1.0±0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
Iodine (µg/day) | 120 (80) | 123±73 | 43 | 47 | 74 | 103 | 158 | 216 | 276 |
Selenium (µg/day) | 30 (20) | 49±21 | 26 | 28 | 35 | 45 | 54 | 77 | 92 |
Cadmium (µg/day) | - | 6.4±1.9 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 6.3 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 9.6 |
Lead (µg/day) | - | 16.1±13.2 | 3.6 | 5.7 | 7.5 | 11.6 | 20.1 | 30.7 | 46.3 |
Mercury (µg/day) | - | 2.3±1.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
* Recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals for 6-9 year old children.10
Figure 1. Added sugar in the diet of six year olds. Contribution of food groups.
Figure 2. Saturated fat in the diet of six year olds. Contribution of food groups.