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Food consumption patterns among peri‐urban Guatemalan children
Author(s) -
Marcinkevage Jessica Ann,
RamirezZea Manuel,
Zuleta Clara,
Stein Aryeh D
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.912.13
Subject(s) - calorie , environmental health , medicine , food frequency questionnaire , food science , food group , snack food , dairy foods , food intake , biology , endocrinology
As part of an ongoing study of diet among school‐age children, we administered a qualitative FFQ ‐ measuring the frequency of 75 foods consumed in the past week, but without measuring portion size ‐ to mothers of 50 7‐10 year‐olds attending public schools in peri‐urban Guatemala. Each mother also completed 24‐hour recalls of her child's food intake on three different days in the preceding week. As derived from the FFQ, mean (SD) caloric intake was 1747 (710) kcal; 61% of calories consumed came from carbohydrates and 27% from fat. Based on the 24 hour recalls, mean (SD) caloric intake was 1751 (513) kcal; 59% of energy came from carbohydrates and 26% from fat. These data suggest that the two instruments provide consistent estimates of energy and macronutrient intake. Analysis of the FFQ showed that these children consumed, on average, ~28 different foods during the week, including 7.7 servings of complex carbohydrate‐rich foods, 1.0 serving of meat, 1.1 servings of dairy, 0.8 servings of vegetables, and 0.5 servings of fruits per day. The children also consumed, on average, 1.8 servings of snack foods daily, primarily corn chips and soda. The most commonly consumed foods were tortillas, sweet breads, corn chips and coffee. The FFQ data suggest that the diets of urban Guatemalan children are high in snack food items, but deficient in fruits and vegetables.