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Dietary strategies for achieving adequate vitamin D and iron intakes in Irish pre-school children aged 1–4 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

L. Kehoe ,
J. Walton ,
B.A. McNulty ,
A.P. Nugent  and
A. Flynn
L. Kehoe
Affiliation:
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Republic of Ireland
J. Walton
Affiliation:
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Republic of Ireland
B.A. McNulty
Affiliation:
UCD Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland
A.P. Nugent
Affiliation:
UCD Institute of Food and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland
A. Flynn
Affiliation:
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Republic of Ireland
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Abstract

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This abstract was awarded the student prize for best poster original communication.

Irish children have low intakes of vitamin D and iron and the main difference in intakes between high and low consumers of vitamin D and iron is attributable to fortified foods and nutritional supplements(Reference Kehoe, Walton and McNulty1, Reference Kehoe, Walton and McNulty2). The objective of this study was to model the potential impact of a number of fortification/supplementation scenarios on vitamin D and iron adequacy in 1 to 4 year old children based on food consumption (4-day food diary) and composition data (UK and Irish Food Composition Tables) from the National Pre-School Nutrition Survey (NPNS) (2010–2011) (www.iuna.net). Five main simulation scenarios were investigated using DaDiet© Version 15·05: 1) Addition of a 5μg/d vitamin D supplement, 2) Fortification of all cows’ milk (CM) with 2μg vitamin D/100 ml, 3) Replacing CM with growing-up milks (GUM) (1 & 2 year olds only), 4) Fortification of all CM plus a 5μg/d vitamin D supplement and 5) Replacing all CM with GUM plus a 5μg/d vitamin D supplement. Usual intakes of vitamin D and iron were calculated via the NCI-method(3) using SAS© Enterprise Guide.

Table 1.

Proportion (%) with intakes of vitamin D below the EAR at baseline & for scenarios 1, 2, 3 & 4.

Table 2.

Proportion (%) with intakes of iron below the EAR at baseline & for scenario 5.

At baseline 95–97 % of children had intakes of vitamin D below the estimated average requirement (EAR) of 10μg/d(4) while 14 % of 1 year olds and 7 % of 2 year olds had iron intakes below the EAR of 5 mg/d(5). For vitamin D, the addition of a 5μg/d supplement to the diets of all children aged 1 to 4 years would result in a modest reduction in the prevalence of inadequate intakes (to 76–91 %). The fortification of CM with vitamin D or replacing all CM with GUM would result in a more substantial reduction in the proportion of the population with inadequate intakes of vitamin D (to 55–79 %) or (to 25–39 %) while the greatest reductions would result from a combination of a vitamin D supplement and vitamin D fortified CM (to 12–36 %) or a vitamin D supplement and replacement of CM with GUM (to 5–12 %). For iron, replacing CM with GUM would reduce the proportion of 1 and 2 year old children with inadequate intakes to <1 %. These analyses provide valuable information that will aid in the development of dietary strategies to improve intakes of vitamin D and iron in Irish pre-school children.

The project was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Nutridata Project 13 F 542; 2014–2016.

References

1.Kehoe, L, Walton, J, McNulty, B et al. (2015) Proc Nutr Soc 74, (OCE4):E219.Google Scholar
2.Kehoe, L, Walton, J, McNulty, B et al. (2015) Ann Nutr Metab 67, (Suppl. 1):149/449.Google Scholar
3.Tooze, JA, Kipnis, V, Buckman, DW et al. (2010) Stat Med 29, (27):2857–2868Google Scholar
4.IOM (2011) National Academies Press. Washington DC.Google Scholar
5.EFSA (2015) EFSA J 13, (10):4254.Google Scholar
Figure 0

Table 1. Proportion (%) with intakes of vitamin D below the EAR at baseline & for scenarios 1, 2, 3 & 4.

Figure 1

Table 2. Proportion (%) with intakes of iron below the EAR at baseline & for scenario 5.