Fat Consumption and Related Changes in Micronutrients Intake and Child Anthropometric Development

Abstract

Imbalanced food intake due to high fat consumption tends to have important consequences over general health conditions, regardless of age. The aim of this paper was to analyze fat intake considering the child`s general nutritional needs, micronutrient requirements and the main anthropometric development data. A transversal study has been conducted on a sample of 287 healthy Romanian children aged 36 to 84 months. The sample was divided into: underweight, normal weight and overweight study groups. Among the study subjects, the total fat intake was lower than the daily references depending on gender and age (p=0.0001). Differences were identified between both saturated (p=0.0001) and unsaturated (p=0.0001) fat intake. Saturated fat intake was significantly correlated with the body weight (p=0.0001), the height (p=0.001) and the BMI (p=0.001). Both dietary cholesterol (p=0.018; r=0.189) and saturated fat (p=0.01; r=0.265) were related to individual height. Lack of relationship was seen regarding zinc, selenium, sodium and fat intake (p>0.05). Yet, monounsaturated fat intake was correlated with iron, magnesium and phosphor. Polyunsaturated fat intake was correlated with both phosphorus and potassium in the underweight group. Conclusions: Daily lack of dietary fats have been associated with a significant decrease in growth speed, weight gain and a higher risk of general developmental delay.