[Nutrient and food consumption by ages and gender in school children from the Community of Madrid (CAENPE)].

UNLABELLED

The objective of the present work was to know the consume of foodstuffs and nutrients among schoolchildren in the Madrid Autonomous Community and also the relative contribution of each group of foodstuffs to the overall intake of macronutrients. This study had a sectional observational design involving 2,608 children (51% males and 49% females) with ages ranging from 6 to 14 years who were randomly recruited from conglomerate of schools, according to socio-economic status and rural/urban residence. The inquiry on nutrients in 4 non consecutive days was analyzed (2 "24 hour-recall" and 2 "intake recall").

RESULTS

a) the consume of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates represented 17%, 43% and 40% of the total caloric value, respectively; b) the intake of meats, sausages, sweets, tidbits, and processed products was very high. This fact is in origin of the excessive total and saturated lipid intake; c) there was a scarce intake of vegetables, cereals and potatoes among children of all ages and dairy products in children older than 12 years; d) the intake of legumes, eggs and fruits was appropriate; e) males consumed proportionally higher amounts than females of the following groups of foodstuffs: cereals, sweets and tidbits. The consume of meat, sausages, fish, eggs, potatoes, dry fruits and dairy products was similar in both sexes. Females consumed proportionally more fat foodstuffs, vegetables, fruits, legumes and processed products; f) females consumed a diet with a still higher lipid and protein content than males. These findings can serve as a basis to develop educational guidelines with a practical impact on family and school menus.