Fatty acid composition of diets of early school-age children and its health implications

Objective: the main objective of this study was to determine the amount and type of fat consumed by early school-age children per day. dietary fat intake as a percentage of the total calorie intake was also estimated. methods: the study was conducted in lublin,the largest city in south-east poland,between january 2014 and april 2014,on 702 randomly selected children,i.e. 3% of the total population of early school-age children in the research area. the parents were asked to provide information about the type and amount of food consumed by their children daily. a standard food frequency questionnaire was used. results: dietary levels of saturated fat were elevated in the analyzed populations and were the source of 13.33% of daily calorie intake. in the studied population,the ratio of saturated to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids was determined at 3.25: 2.95: 1. dietary intake of α-linolenic acid (ala) reached 1.057 ± 0.55 g (0.63% of daily calorie intake) on average,and dietary intake of linoleic acid (la) was determined at 3.86 ± 2.51 g (2.31% of daily calorie intake). conclusions: the average total calorie intake of children aged 6-11 years was 1445.66 calories per day. average fat intake was 29.64% of the total calorie intake. the highest intake of sfas was found in the youngest age group of 6- to 8-year-olds. the type of food consumed by children affected the amount and type of dietary fat in all age groups. © 2015,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.