Race/ethnicity, family income, and education differentials in nutritional biomarkers in American children and adolescents: NHANES 2003–2006

Abstract

Diet, an acknowledged correlate of health may mediate the known race/ethnic and socioeconomic differentials in the health of US children. However, few studies have systematically examined the independent association of ethnicity, income, and education with nutritional profiles of US children. We used the NHANES 2003–2006 data for 2–19 year old Americans to examine the independent associations of race/ethnicity, family income, and education with dietary intakes and serum concentrations of vitamins A, D, E, C, B‐6, B‐12, folate, and carotenoids (n ~ 2700 to 7500). Non‐ Hispanic blacks (NHB) had lower serum concentrations of vitamins A, B‐6, E, and alpha‐carotene relative to non‐Hispanic whites (NHW). Both NHB and Mexican‐Americans (MA) had higher serum vitamin C, beta‐cryptoxanthin and lutein/zeaxanthin, but lower folate and vitamin D concentrations relative to NHW. In NHB, the differences in mean dietary intakes of vitamins A, C, folate, alpha‐carotene, beta‐cryptoxanthin, and lutein/zeaxanthin were in a similar direction to that of biomarker concentrations. Family income and education predicted few biomarker or dietary outcomes and the observed associations were weak. In conclusion, race/ethnicity (but not family income or education) was a strong independent predictor of dietary intakes and serum concentrations of micronutrients in US children and adolescents. Supported by NIH grant award HD060217