Objective: To investigate food and nutrient intakes in 3-year-old children. Subjects: Eight hundred and sixty-three children resident in South West England (69% of those invited at this age), a randomly selected sub-sample of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC). Methods: Diet was assessed using a 3-day descriptive food record. Food and nutrient intakes were compared with intakes at 18 months in the same children, with intakes in the British National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of pre-school children, and with dietary reference values (DRVs). Results: Intakes of energy and most nutrients had increased between 18 and 43 months. The macronutrient content of the diet had also changed, the percentage of energy from starch rose from 21 to 23% and from non-milk extrinsic (NME) sugar from 12 to 16%, while the polyunsaturated to saturated fat ratio increased from 0.26 to 0.33. When compared with the NDNS, intakes of energy and all nutrients were higher with the exception of NME sugar. Energy intakes were below the estimated average requirements. Mean intakes of iron and vitamin D were below the Reference Nutrient Intake. Fewer children were eating beef at 43 months than at 18 months. Total daily meat consumption was lower than in the NDNS. The proportion of children consuming any vegetables dropped between 18 and 43 months, although fruit eating remained constant. Conclusions: The diets of 3-year-olds in this study were adequate in most nutrients. Our results suggest that energy requirements of pre-school children in the 1990s are less than the DRV. Nutrient and food intakes changed between 18 and 43 months. Children were eating less meat than their counterparts in the NDNS.

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A newly developed food frequency questionnaire designed to estimate habitual intake of non-starch polysaccharide (NSP), intrinsic and extrinsic sugars, starch and alcohol was compared with 4-d weighed records using the semi-automatic Petra system in 154 subjects, men aged 40-69 years and women aged 25-69 years. There was no statistical difference between the two methods for average intake of NSP (soluble and insoluble) intrinsic sugar and Vitamin C. Where a significant difference did occur, notably in extrinsic sugar and starch, it did not exceed 12%, the food frequency questionnaire giving the higher result. With most food components, 4 5 4 7 % were classified i n the same tertile and only 5 4 % of subjects were classified in opposite tertiles by the two methods. We conclude that this questionnaire is a valid method of assessing habitual intake of these food components in large groups of subjects.

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