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Diet composition and body composition in preschool children
1School of Human Movement Studies, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Australia.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|June 29, 2000
Summary
Diet composition, including fat intake, did not significantly correlate with body fat percentage in preschool children. Physical activity level, however, showed a relationship with body composition in early childhood.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Childhood Body Composition
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Dietary macronutrient intake, particularly fat, is linked to body composition in adults and animal models.
- Data on the relationship between diet and body composition in young children are limited.
- Understanding these early-life relationships is crucial for long-term health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between diet composition and body fat percentage in children aged 1.5 to 4.5 years.
- To determine if macronutrient intake (fat, carbohydrate, protein) influences body fat in preschool-aged children.
- To explore the role of physical activity in conjunction with diet on childhood body composition.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 4-day weighed food records to assess dietary intake of total energy and macronutrients in 77 preschool children.
- Employed the oxygen-18 dilution method to accurately measure percentage body fat.
- Assessed habitual physical activity level using energy expenditure to predicted basal metabolic rate ratios derived from stable isotope analyses.
Main Results:
- No significant correlations were found between percentage body fat and dietary intake variables (total energy, percentage energy from fat, carbohydrate, or protein).
- Analysis of variance showed no significant differences in body fat percentage across increasing levels of dietary intake.
- Multiple regression analysis indicated that physical activity level was significantly related to body fat, while diet composition was not.
Conclusions:
- No association was observed between dietary intakes of total energy, fat, carbohydrate, or protein and percentage body fat in preschool children.
- The relationship between fat intake and body fat may emerge later in development and is not apparent in this age group.
- Physical activity level appears to be a more significant determinant of body composition in early childhood compared to diet composition.