This study was carried out to assess dietary calcium intakes of children at child care centers. The 131 subjects were recruited from 6 day care centers in 3 different provinces. The mean age of the subjects was 53.4 months and male and female subjects...
This study was carried out to assess dietary calcium intakes of children at child care centers. The 131 subjects were recruited from 6 day care centers in 3 different provinces. The mean age of the subjects was 53.4 months and male and female subjects were 64 children (48.9)% and 67 children(51.1)%, respectively. Calcium intake of children was estimated by 24-hour recall method from their months for home intakes and direct measurement for intakes at day care center for 2 days. Mean daily calcium intake of subjects was 437.7mg and mean intake level of males, 443.1mg, was not significantly different from that of females, 432.6mg. There was not significantly different distribution of subjects by the level of percent RDA of calcium and sex(p>0.05). The food group which contributed most to the dietary calcium intake of subjects was milk and milk products supplying 62.0% of total calcium intake. The next important group for calcium intake was fishes and shell fishes supplying 17.43% of total intake, followed by vegetables, cereal and grain products and bean and their products etc. For individual food item, whole milk contributed most supplying 34.4% of total calcium intake followed by curd yogurt, anchovy, ice cream, and liquid yogurt etc. In summary, these results of the study show that calcium intake of children at day care center is low, the major sources of dietary calcium were mainly milk products. Further studies regarding nutritional calcium status, and relationship between calcium and development of children may need to manage children's growth and development.