Abstract
The objective of this study is to assess the usual intake and food sources of choline in a group of Romanian kindergarten children. A cross-sectional study was performed among 71 children aged 4–6 years from four kindergartens from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dietary intake data were collected by means of three-day food records. The mean (SD) daily intake of choline was 215 (32) mg/day, 22.5% of the participants fulfilling the adequate intake (AI) for children 4–6 years of age of 250 mg of choline per day. The main food sources were meat (mainly poultry), eggs, grains, cereals, and baked products (mainly bread), and dairy products (mainly milk). The results of the logistic regression analyses show that an appropriate consumption of choline/day was statistically significantly associated with the consumption of at least one egg per three days (OR = 7.5, p < 0.05), a minimum of two portions of milk or dairy products per day (500 mL milk or yoghurt, or 60 g of cheese/day) (OR = 4.4, p < 0.05), and at least one portion of meat/day (90 g/day) (OR = 14.4, p < 0.05). The results underline the need for future surveys in this field, as well as actions to encourage an appropriate diet for children, including an appropriate content of choline.
Highlights
The US Institute of Medicine has recognised choline as an important nutrient for human health since 1998 when an adequate intake (AI) was set, since sufficient evidence was not available at the time for calculating an estimated average requirement and recommended daily allowance [1,2]
The results of the study show that 22.5% of the children had a daily intake of at least 250 mg of choline, while 90.1% had at least 170 mg choline/day in their diet
22.5% of the children included in our study fulfil the recommended adequate intake by the US Institute of Medicine of 250 mg/day
Summary
The US Institute of Medicine has recognised choline as an important nutrient for human health since 1998 when an adequate intake (AI) was set, since sufficient evidence was not available at the time for calculating an estimated average requirement and recommended daily allowance [1,2]. Choline can be created through de novo synthesis, but it is predominantly obtained from the diet, because the amount of biosynthesis that occurs in the body cannot sufficiently meet the daily requirements for humans, especially during critical periods of rapid development [5,8].
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