Dairy Intake Would Reduce Nutrient Gaps in Chinese Young Children Aged 3–8 Years: A Modelling Study

Abstract

Dairy foods are under-consumed among Chinese children. We modeled the impact of increased dairy consumption on nutrient inadequacy and assessed whether the consumption of formulated milk powder for children ≥3 years (FMP3+) is useful for reducing nutrient gaps. Data from 3–8-year-old children, with completed socio-demographic and dietary measurements from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 2015, were used (n = 1122). Dietary intakes were modeled in two scenarios: Scenario 1 added FMP3+ or cow’s milk to reported diet to reach recommended dairy intakes; Scenario 2 replaced the currently consumed milk with an equal volume of FMP3+. Reported nutrient intakes were compared with each model. Only 32.5% of children consumed dairy products; the average intake amount in total was 48.6 g/day. Most children (97.6%) did not meet dairy intake recommendation. Inadequate nutrient intakes were observed for calcium, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and selenium. In Scenario 1, both FMP3+ and cow’s milk improved the intake of all analyzed nutrients. In Scenario 2, FMP3+ substitution increased the intake of most nutrients, and reduced the proportion of children with an inadequate intake of vitamin C, thiamin, vitamin A, iron, zinc and potassium. Thus, increasing dairy consumption would reduce nutrient gaps, and FMP3+ is a good food source to help children meet nutrient requirements.

Milk beverages can reduce nutrient inadequacy among Brazilian pre-school children: a dietary modelling study

“…The overall results suggest that such a switch could result in a drastic improvement of adequacy in all vitamins, calcium, iron and zinc, as well as improvement of fatty acid profiles (increased mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and reduced saturated fat intakes) and amount (as % kcal) and fibre. Our findings are comparable to similar modelling studies with PCM that recently demonstrated a reduction in key micronutrient inadequacies, including calcium, iron and vitamin D, in UK, Chinese and Filipino children who were not meeting local dairy recommendations [ 9 , 15 , 20 ].…”

“…Also, the addition of young children milk to the diet reduced the inadequacy of key micronutrients such as iron by 20% and vitamin C by 70% [ 9 ]. A similar observation was reported in two studies in young Chinese children, with a reduction of micronutrient inadequacy prevalence after they achieved their dairy recommendation with either milk or a fortified young child milk [ 15 ].…”

The Nutritional Impact of Milk Beverages in Reducing Nutrient Inadequacy among Children Aged One to Five Years in the Philippines: A Dietary Modelling Study

“…While this study cannot directly compare to previous studies in the Philippines, some similarities and differences can be highlighted when compared to modelling studies from the US, China, and Ireland on toddlers and preschool children. A study in China observed positive nutritional impact of adding a formulated milk powder for children three to eight years, whereby reductions in vitamin C, thiamin, vitamin A, iron, zinc and potassium inadequacy were seen [10]. In Ireland, while calcium inadequacy is not a public health issue for children due to the large volume of milk typically consumed, it has been observed that vitamin D and iron adequacy are difficult to achieve among children aged one to four years.…”

“…Another study showed that when modelling dairy consumption at recommended amounts, essentially all Americans would meet estimated average requirement (EAR) of calcium intake, and vitamin A and magnesium inadequacy would significantly reduce [9]. One example from China demonstrated that when adding amounts of formulated milk or cow's milk to help children three to eight years reach their recommended dairy consumption, their nutrient intakes would improve while micronutrient inadequacy such as vitamin A, C, iron, zinc would reduce considerably [10].…”

Community-based interventions to increase dairy intake in healthy populations: a systematic review

“…Although dairy consumption has countless benefits for improving health issues, the amount of dairy intake is lower than the international recommendations [22][23][24]29], which can lead to an increase in the incidence of certain diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, colorectal cancer, and hypertension as well as healthcare costs [30]. In order to identify policy options to increase dairy intake, reviewing successful community-based strategies and their effectiveness is needed to help policy-makers in choosing the best policy options with respect to situations in each country.…”