Relationship between anthropometry, nutrients intakes and serum lipids among preschool children in Taipei

The aim of this study was to investigate the anthropometric and dietary characteristics of preschool children in Taipei in relation to their serum lipids. Three hundreds and two preschool children, aged from 36 months to 76 months with mean age of 62±10 months were included in this study. Children's height and body weight were measured, and blood samples were taken for analysis. The results were as follows: for weight-for-length index, there were 36 children ≥ 1.2; that meant 11.9% of total children were concluded as obese. As for total blood cholesterol, total of one hundred and thirty nine children (46.0%) were greater than 170 mg/dL. Computer analytic softwares were used to analyze the diet intake of seventy-four preschool children who had completed three days food intake record. Those who had fat intake greater than 30% of total diet were defined as high fat group; those less than 30% were defined as low fat group. The results were as follows: high fat group: 1236 ± 391 Kcal, 14.2% protein, 36.3% fat, 50% carbohydrate, cholesterol 177 ± 26 mg/dL; low fat group: 1001 ± 333 Kcal, 13.8% protein, 26.5% fat and 60.5% carbohydrate, cholesterol 174 ± 50 mg/dL. Average fat intake was 34.4% with median value of 34.4%; both exceeded the NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Program) recommendation (< 30%). As for serum lipids, there was no statistic difference in serum lipid between high fat group and low fat group by using t-test.