Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article
Nutrient intakes of infants and toddlers from maternal and child care centres in urban areas of China, based on one 24-hour dietary recall
Published in: BMC Nutrition | Issue 1/2015
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Background
An understanding of the diet of young children from infancy to early childhood in China is limited. The objective of this study is to evaluate nutrient intakes of young children from urban areas in China.
Methods
Mothers, infants and children were recruited from maternal and child care centres as part of a cross-sectional survey of Maternal Infant Nutrition Growth (MING). One 24-h dietary recall was completed for a sample of infants and toddlers aged 6 to 35 months (n = 1409) via face-to-face interviews with the primary caregiver. Nutrient intakes were estimated using data from Chinese Food Composition tables and compared with the Adequate Intakes (AI) or Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) from China.
Results
Mean intakes of most nutrients met or exceeded AIs. Mean fat intakes (% energy) in all subgroups fell below the AIs (32 % vs. 40 % among infants; 31 % and 32 % vs. 35 % among younger and older toddlers). Mean intakes of vitamin B6, folate and selenium were below the AIs among infants (0.3 vs. 0.4 mg/d, 93 vs. 100 μg/d and 15.2 vs. 20 μg/d, respectively). A risk of inadequate iron intake was also observed in infants. Mean vitamin A intake exceeded the recommendations in all subgroups. Mean sodium intakes among toddlers significantly exceeded the AI.
Conclusions
Based on one day dietary intake, the diets of the infants and toddlers appear to be adequate in mean intakes of most nutrients, with a few exceptions including risk of inadequate intakes of fat, vitamin B6, folate, iron and selenium among infants and risk of inadequate intake of fat, vitamin B6 and folate as well as excessive intakes of vitamin A and sodium among toddlers.