TITLE:
Dietary Calcium and Overweight in Preschoolers: Is There an Association?
AUTHORS:
Luciana Neri Nobre, Susilane Pereira Araújo, Paulo de Souza Costa Sobrinho, Kellen Cristine Silva, Sofia Emanuelle de Castro Ferreira, Lidiane Lopes Moreira, Joel Alves Lamounier, Sylvia do Carmo Castro Franceschin
KEYWORDS:
Calcium Intake, Overweight, Obesity, Preschoolers, Adiposity
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
26,
2018
ABSTRACT: Background: Several observational and experimental studies in humans and animals have noted an inverse relationship between calcium intake, particularly dairy products, and body weight and adiposity. However, these effects have not been consistently observed. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between calcium intake and anthropometric measures and adiposity in preschoolers. Methods: Cross-sectional study nested in a cohort born of 232 preschoolers from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The preschoolers underwent anthropometric (body mass index and waist circumference), adiposity (triceps and subscapular skinfold) and dietary (three 24-hour dietary recalls) evaluations. The association between calcium intake, adiposity and anthropometric measurements was performed using a logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of overweight (overweight and obesity) among preschoolers was 17.24%. The average calcium intake was 480.51 mg/day. Only 7.7% of children reached their daily recommended intake value (800 mg/day), and calcium intake was equally low for both groups studied (p = 0.74). This study did not find a relationship between calcium intake and overweight or adiposity. Conclusions: Calcium intake was far below the recommendations for the age group studied, and no was identified association between low calcium intake and overweight or adiposity.