Dietary Intake, Nutritional Adequacy and Food Sources of Total Fat and Fatty Acids, and Relationships with Personal and Family Factors in Spanish Children Aged One to <10 Years: Results of the EsNuPI Study

Abstract

We aimed to determine the usual intake of total fat, fatty acids (FAs), and their main food sources in a representative cohort of the Spanish pediatric population aged 1 to &lt;10 years (n = 707) who consumed all types of milk and an age-matched cohort who consumed adapted milk over the last year (including follow-on formula, toddler’s milk, growing-up milk, and fortified and enriched milks) (n = 741) who were participants in the EsNuPI study (in English, Nutritional Study in the Spanish Pediatric Population). Dietary intake, measured through two 24 h dietary recalls, was compared to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) recommendations. Both cohorts showed a high intake of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), according to FAO recommendations, as there are no numerical recommendations for SFAs at EFSA. Also, low intake of essential fatty acids (EFAs; linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA)) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) of the n-3 series, mainly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were observed according to EFSA and FAO recommendations. The three main sources of total fat and different FAs were milk and dairy products, oils and fats, and meat and meat products. The consumption of adapted milk was one of the main factors associated with better adherence to the nutritional recommendations of total fat, SFAs, EFAs, PUFAs; and resulted as the main factor associated with better adherence to n-3 fatty acids intake recommendations. Knowledge of the dietary intake and food sources of total fat and FAs in children could help in designing and promoting effective and practical age-targeted guidelines to promote the consumption of EFA- and n-3 PUFA-rich foods in this stage of life.

Total Fat and Fatty Acid Intake among 1–7-Year-Old Children from 33 Countries: Comparison with International Recommendations

“…ALA intake was below the recommendation in 50% of studies. Daily EPA + DHA intake ranged from 24.7 to 152 mg and was below the FAO/WHO recommendation of 100 mg/day in 7 of the 10 studies for which these data were recovered, except two local studies done in Vancouver (Coastal area in Canada) [49,52] and one subnational study done in urban areas in Spain [89] with daily intakes of 100, 152 and 130 mg, respectively. EPA + DHA consumption was below the EFSA recommendation (250 mg/day) in all studies.…”

“…EPA + DHA intake ranged from 30 to 144 mg and was below the FAO/WHO recommendation of 175 mg per day in all 11 studies for which DHA data was recovered for 5-7 years old children, done in 10 countries. Among this age group, three studies in Europe reported intakes which did not meet the recommendation for total and saturated fat (too high), and ALA and DHA (too low) [79,82,89], despite having intakes of LA within 2-4% of energy.…”

“…EPA + DHA intake ranged from 24.7 to 184 mg and was below the FAO/WHO recommendation of 125 mg/day in 9 of the 14 studies done in 11 countries for which these data were recovered. Studies with an intake >125 mg/day were two local studies (one in Vancouver (Coastal area in Canada) [49]; one in Japan [63], one sub-national study in urban areas in Spain) [89] and two national studies (France [79] and Sweden [91] with daily intakes ranging from 130 to 184 mg/day. EPA + DHA intake was below the EFSA recommendations of 250 mg/day in all studies.…”

“…Currently, there is no recommendation for ARA intake in infants older than 6 months, because despite its presence in human milk, and its rapid accretion in body cells in young children, no clinical effect could be observed when infants' diets were supplemented with ARA [26,27]. ARA intake was reported in several studies included in this review [40,43,49,51,52,56,60,61,63,73,[77][78][79]89] and ranged from 10 to 260 mg per day. By comparison, fully breastfed infants aged 0-6 months consume 140 mg/day [19].…”

Complementary Feeding Practices and Parental Pressure to Eat among Spanish Infants and Toddlers: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…On the contrary, research about feeding practices in Spain has been mostly focused on children above two years of age and adolescents (e.g., [ 56 , 57 , 58 ]). Only a few studies have included infants and toddlers below 18 months, but they were focused on nutrient intake and adequacy [ 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ].…”