Suplenmentos en niños

Appetite 54 (2010) 340–345

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Appetite
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet

Research report

High dietary supplement intakes among Flemish preschoolers
Inge Huybrechts a,*, Lea Maes a, Carine Vereecken a,b, Willem De Keyzer c, Dirk De Bacquer a, Guy De Backer a, Stefaan De Henauw a,c
a

Department of Public Health, GhentUniversity, University Hospital 2BlokA, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), Belgium c Department of Health Sciences, Vesalius, Hogeschool Gent, Keramiekstraat 80, 9000 Gent, Belgium
b

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history: Received 22 July 2009 Received in revised form 21 November 2009 Accepted 23 December 2009 Keywords: Dietary supplementintake Preschool Children Belgium

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dietary supplement use among Flemish preschoolers and to investigate associations between dietary supplement use and socio-economic variables of the parents. Parentally reported 3-day estimated dietary records (n = 696) were used to calculate mean daily nutrient intakes, using Software for IntakeDistribution Estimation (Cside). Sociodemographic information and frequency of dietary supplement use were collected via parental questionnaires, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (n = 1847). The results from the FFQ revealed that more than 30% of the children used dietary supplements in the past month. Children of more highly educated parents and children of non-smokers were significantly morelikely to use supplements than their counterparts. The types most frequently used were multi-vitamin/mineral supplements. Except for vitamin D, mean dietary intakes derived from foods alone was higher than the minimum recommendations for both supplement and non-supplement users. The youngest group of supplement users even exceeded the tolerable upper intake level for zinc (7 mg). However, forvitamin D, dietary supplements could help meet dietary recommendations for this micronutrient. In conclusion, the results indicated that dietary supplement use by healthy children who typically achieve their micronutrient requirements by foods alone could cause excessive intakes. Future studies should investigate potential harms and benefits of dietary supplementation use among preschoolers. ß 2009Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction Marketplaces for dietary supplements are large and changing rapidly. The Belgian Food Consumption Survey indicated that dietary supplements were used by more than 10% of the Belgian adult population on at least one of two 24-h dietary recall days (De Vriese, Huybrechts, Moreau, & Van Oyen, 2006). In Flemish preschoolers however, the percentage thatconsumed dietary supplements during the past month was more than 30% (Huybrechts et al., 2008). Therefore, it is important to investigate whether these high supplement intakes are needed in this population.

Abbreviations: WHO, World Health Organization; ADA, American Dietetic Association; EDR, estimated dietary records; d, day; Cside, Software for Intake Distribution Estimation; RDA, recommendeddietary allowances; DRI, Dietary Reference Intakes; IOM, Institute of Medicine; UL, upper intake level; AI, Adequate intake; AR, acceptable range; EAR, estimated average requirement; HGR, Hoge Gezondheidsraad; SPSS, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; y, year; SD, standard deviation; NICE, Belgian Nutrition Information Center. * Corresponding author. E-mail address:inge.huybrechts@ugent.be (I. Huybrechts). 0195-6663/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2009.12.012

A body of evidence has shown the health benefits associated with consuming certain foods such as vegetables and fruits (Joshipura et al., 2001). Although different nutrients provided by these foods including vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and polyunsaturated fatty acids...