Related Experiment Videos
[Antioxidant vitamin intake in obese children]
Katalin Török1, Dóra Járai, Noémi Szalay
1Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Altalános Orvostudományi Kar, Gyermekklinika.
Insights
Obese children do not have lower dietary antioxidant vitamin intake than nonobese children. This suggests that increased vitamin expenditure or entrapment in adipose tissue, not diet, explains lower vitamin levels in obese youth.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Pediatric Health
- Oxidative Stress Research
Background:
- Obesity is linked to increased oxidative stress.
- Antioxidant vitamins are crucial for combating oxidative stress.
- Previous studies indicated lower serum levels of antioxidant vitamins in obese children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate dietary antioxidant vitamin intake in obese versus nonobese children.
- To determine if reduced dietary intake explains lower antioxidant vitamin levels in obese youth.
Main Methods:
- Study included 97 obese and 46 nonobese children.
- Anthropometric measurements were taken.
- A 3-day self-reported food intake was analyzed using NutriComp software.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in antioxidant vitamin intake was observed between obese and nonobese children.
- Dietary intake did not appear to be the cause of lower serum antioxidant vitamin concentrations in obese children.
Conclusions:
- Dietary intake does not explain the reduced serum concentrations of antioxidant vitamins in obese children.
- Increased expenditure of antioxidant vitamins or their entrapment within adipose tissues are potential explanations for lower levels in obese children.
Introduction:
Obesity has been associated with a markedly increased oxidative stress. Antioxidant vitamins play an outstanding role in the protection against oxidative stress. The authors found reduced concentration of alpha-tocopherol and alpha- and beta-carotene, in a previous study, in obese boys compared to nonobese children. The differences between obese and nonobese subjects may be explained either by the increased expenditure of antioxidant vitamins for antioxidative protection or by the entrapment in the adipose tissues or the reduced dietary intake.
Aim:
The authors investigated dietary antioxidant vitamin intakes in obese and nonobese children.
Patients And Methods:
97 obese [body weight (kg) mean +/- SD: 82.6 +/- 18.6; age (year) mean +/- SD: 13.1 +/- 2.8] and 46 nonobese children [body weight (kg) mean +/- SD: 60.5 +/- 15.4; age (year) mean +/- SD: 14.5 +/- 2.8] were investigated. Anthropometric data were measured and a 3 days self-reported food intake were investigated (NutriComp software).
Results And Conclusions:
The authors found, that the antioxidant vitamin intake was not significantly lower in the obese group than in control subjects. The authors suggest that dietary intake does not explain the decreased serum concentration of antioxidant vitamins in obese children. Increased expenditure and/or the entrapment in the adipose tissues may be the possible explanation.