University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, 418 Curie Blvd., Room 426, Claire M. Fagin Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6096, USA.
Environ Health. 2011 Apr 1;10:28. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-10-28.
Previous studies have shown that fasting increases lead absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of adults. Regular meals/snacks are recommended as a nutritional intervention for lead poisoning in children, but epidemiological evidence of links between fasting and blood lead levels (B-Pb) is rare. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between eating a regular breakfast and B-Pb among children using data from the China Jintan Child Cohort Study.
Parents completed a questionnaire regarding children's breakfast-eating habit (regular or not), demographics, and food frequency. Whole blood samples were collected from 1,344 children for the measurements of B-Pb and micronutrients (iron, copper, zinc, calcium, and magnesium). B-Pb and other measures were compared between children with and without regular breakfast. Linear regression modeling was used to evaluate the association between regular breakfast and log-transformed B-Pb. The association between regular breakfast and risk of lead poisoning (B-Pb≥10 μg/dL) was examined using logistic regression modeling.
Median B-Pb among children who ate breakfast regularly and those who did not eat breakfast regularly were 6.1 μg/dL and 7.2 μg/dL, respectively. Eating breakfast was also associated with greater zinc blood levels. Adjusting for other relevant factors, the linear regression model revealed that eating breakfast regularly was significantly associated with lower B-Pb (beta = -0.10 units of log-transformed B-Pb compared with children who did not eat breakfast regularly, p = 0.02).
The present study provides some initial human data supporting the notion that eating a regular breakfast might reduce B-Pb in young children. To our knowledge, this is the first human study exploring the association between breakfast frequency and B-Pb in young children.
先前的研究表明，禁食会增加成年人胃肠道对铅的吸收。人们建议规律的餐食/零食作为儿童铅中毒的营养干预措施，但关于禁食与血铅水平（B-Pb）之间关联的流行病学证据很少。本研究旨在使用来自中国金坛儿童队列研究的数据，检验规律吃早餐与儿童血铅水平之间的关系。
家长们通过问卷调查的形式，了解了儿童的早餐饮食习惯（规律或不规律）、人口统计学特征和食物频率。从 1344 名儿童中采集全血样本，用于测量 B-Pb 和微量营养素（铁、铜、锌、钙和镁）。比较了有规律吃早餐和没有规律吃早餐的儿童之间的 B-Pb 和其他指标。线性回归模型用于评估规律吃早餐与对数转换 B-Pb 之间的关系。使用逻辑回归模型检验规律吃早餐与铅中毒风险（B-Pb≥10μg/dL）之间的关系。
有规律吃早餐和没有规律吃早餐的儿童的血铅中位数分别为 6.1μg/dL 和 7.2μg/dL。吃早餐也与更高的锌血水平有关。在调整其他相关因素后，线性回归模型显示，规律吃早餐与较低的 B-Pb 显著相关（与不吃早餐的儿童相比，B-Pb 对数转换减少 0.10 个单位，p=0.02）。
本研究提供了一些初步的人类数据，支持了这样一种观点，即规律吃早餐可能会降低幼儿的 B-Pb。据我们所知，这是第一项探索幼儿早餐频率与 B-Pb 之间关系的人类研究。
