Abstract
An understanding of the diet of young children from infancy to early childhood in China is limited. The objective of this study is to evaluate nutrient intakes of young children from urban areas in China. Mothers, infants and children were recruited from maternal and child care centres as part of a cross-sectional survey of Maternal Infant Nutrition Growth (MING). One 24-h dietary recall was completed for a sample of infants and toddlers aged 6 to 35 months (n = 1409) via face-to-face interviews with the primary caregiver. Nutrient intakes were estimated using data from Chinese Food Composition tables and compared with the Adequate Intakes (AI) or Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) from China. Mean intakes of most nutrients met or exceeded AIs. Mean fat intakes (% energy) in all subgroups fell below the AIs (32 % vs. 40 % among infants; 31 % and 32 % vs. 35 % among younger and older toddlers). Mean intakes of vitamin B6, folate and selenium were below the AIs among infants (0.3 vs. 0.4 mg/d, 93 vs. 100 μg/d and 15.2 vs. 20 μg/d, respectively). A risk of inadequate iron intake was also observed in infants. Mean vitamin A intake exceeded the recommendations in all subgroups. Mean sodium intakes among toddlers significantly exceeded the AI. Based on one day dietary intake, the diets of the infants and toddlers appear to be adequate in mean intakes of most nutrients, with a few exceptions including risk of inadequate intakes of fat, vitamin B6, folate, iron and selenium among infants and risk of inadequate intake of fat, vitamin B6 and folate as well as excessive intakes of vitamin A and sodium among toddlers.
Highlights
An understanding of the diet of young children from infancy to early childhood in China is limited
Inadequate intakes of calcium, zinc and vitamin C and too much salt intake were found among children aged 3–6 years from urban areas [5] and inadequate intakes of energy, protein, calcium, zinc, thiamine and riboflavin were reported among young children aged 2 to 7 years from rural areas [6]
Subjects The Maternal Infant Nutrition Growth (MING) study was a cross-sectional study designed to investigate the dietary and nutritional status of pregnant women, lactating mothers and young children aged from birth up to three years living in urban areas of China conducted in 2011 and 2012
Summary
An understanding of the diet of young children from infancy to early childhood in China is limited. The objective of this study is to evaluate nutrient intakes of young children from urban areas in China. Appropriate nutrition during infancy and early childhood is vital for optimal growth and development. Several national nutrition surveys have been conducted in China since 1982. In those surveys only the population groups aged 2 years and. Duan and colleagues studied the diet of young children aged 2 to 7 years from different cities and provinces in China using three day food records. One study was conducted in children aged 1 to 5 years in Yunnan Province, a poor area of China, using the data
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