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Abstract
Objective: To investigate current dietary intakes of arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in healthy children between 4–7 years of age using a 3-day food record.
Design: Cross-sectional study investigating dietary intakes using food records. Parents were instructed to document all food and drink consumed by their child for 3 consecutive days.
Subjects and Setting: Healthy children (n = 91), 4–7 years of age, living in central Alberta, Canada were volunteered by their parents to participate in the study. Seventy-eight children completed the study.
Results: AA and DHA intakes were 57 ± 35 mg/day and 37 ± 63 mg/day, ranged between 1.2–180 mg/day and 0–350 mg/day and varied day to day at 0–380 mg/day and 0–991 mg/d, respectively. DHA intake was ≤30 mg/day for 74% of the subjects.
Conclusion: Canadian children, 4–7 years of age and not living near a marine environment, have relatively low dietary intakes of AA and DHA. Retinal and neuronal development continues throughout childhood, therefore it is conceivable that low intake of AA and DHA may have a negative impact.
We would like to thank the school administration, teachers, parents and children of the Parkland School Division No. 70, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada. This work was financially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and MTI Meta Tech Inc. Vanessa Lien was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship and the Health Research Studentship from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.