BackgroundSince information about macro- and micronutrient intake among vegans is limited we aimed to determine and evaluate their dietary and supplementary intake.MethodsSeventy 18–61 years old Danish vegans completed a four-day weighed food record from which their daily intake of macro- and micronutrients was assessed and subsequently compared to an age-range-matched group of 1 257 omnivorous individuals from the general Danish population. Moreover, the vegan dietary and supplementary intake was compared to the 2012 Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR).ResultsDietary intake differed significantly between vegans and the general Danish population in all measured macro- and micronutrients (p < 0.05), except for energy intake among women and intake of carbohydrates among men. For vegans the intake of macro- and micronutrients (including supplements) did not reach the NNR for protein, vitamin D, iodine and selenium. Among vegan women vitamin A intake also failed to reach the recommendations. With reference to the NNR, the dietary content of added sugar, sodium and fatty acids, including the ratio of PUFA to SFA, was more favorable among vegans.ConclusionsAt the macronutrient level, the diet of Danish vegans is in better accordance with the NNR than the diet of the general Danish population. At the micronutrient level, considering both diet and supplements, the vegan diet falls short in certain nutrients, suggesting a need for greater attention toward ensuring recommended daily intake of specific vitamins and minerals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12937-015-0103-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day and in recent years has been implicated in weight control, cardio-metabolic risk factors and cognitive performance although, at present, the literature remains inconclusive as to the precise health benefits of breakfast. There are extensive reports of breakfast’s contributions to daily food and nutrient intakes, as well as many studies that have compared daily food and nutrient intakes by breakfast consumers and skippers. However, significant variation exists in the definitions of breakfast and breakfast skippers, and in methods used to relate breakfast nutrient intakes to overall diet quality. The present review describes a novel and harmonised approach to the study of the nutritional impact of breakfast through The International Breakfast research Initiative involving national dietary survey data from Canada, Denmark, France, Spain, the UK and the USA. It is anticipated that the analysis of such data along harmonised lines, will allow the project to achieve its primary goal of exploring approaches to defining optimal breakfast food and nutrient intakes. Such data will be of value to public health nutrition policy-makers and food manufacturers and will also allow consistent messaging to help consumers to optimize food choices at breakfast.

Objective: To investigate whether there is an association between socioeconomic status and a healthy diet, taking the possible influence of other social variables such as age, gender, income and household composition into consideration. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Nationwide study in Denmark, 1995. Subjects: Random sample from the civil registration system. A total of 852 men and 870 women aged 18-80 y participated, a response rate of 58%. Interventions: A 7 day estimated dietary record was used to obtain information about the diet. Information about social background was gained through face-to-face interview. Results: The intake of fruit and vegetables and the percentage energy (E%) from fat in the diet were significantly associated with the educational level of both men and women. For men with only basic schooling, the mean intake of vegetables and fat was 84 g=10 MJ and 41 E% respectively. Men with long higher education had a mean intake of 119 g=10 MJ of vegetables and 37 E% of fat. For women, the corresponding figures for the intake of vegetables and fat were 131 g=10 MJ and 38 E% and 175 g=10 MJ and 37 E%, respectively. For women, age, income and household composition were also significantly associated with the intake of fruit and vegetables. Conclusions: Education seems to be the most important social variable to explain social differences in dietary habits. Additional variables are needed to explain dietary habits of women. Differences are seen for both foods and nutrients. Sponsorship: The data analysis was financially supported by the Health Insurance Fund.

Objective and design: The study comprised three protocols. Protocol 1 compared a HPLC method with the commonly employed colorimetric diazocoupling method. Protocol 2 examined, if the last dosage of paminobenzoic acid (PABA) could be advanced in the old to allow for a delayed age-dependent urinary excretion of PABA. Protocol 3 established limits for recovery of PABA in 24 h urine applying the HPLC method. Subjects and setting: A total of 151 healthy volunteers participated in the study of which 140 were accepted. In protocol 1: 37 subjects aged 20±78 y were included. All subjects took PABA as recommended (80 mg orally at 08.00, 12.00 and 18.00 h). Protocol 2: compared urinary PABA excretion in two groups of 80 y old subjects who had their last PABA dosage administered at 15.00 h (n 16) and at 18.00 h (n 31), respectively. Protocol 3: comprised 56 subjects aged 20±80 y. In the younger age group (20±59 y; n 34) PABA was taken as recommended, whereas in the older age group (60±80 y; n 22) the last PABA dosage was advanced three hours. Results: Protocol 1: HPLC gave signi®cantly lower PABA recovery results compared to colorimetry, the difference between methods being 23.9 AE 8.5 mg/24 h (P`0.001). Protocol 2: higher PABA recoveries were demonstrated with the advanced dosage schedule compared to the recommended schedule (208 AE 14 mg/24 h vs 181 AE 22 mg/24 h; P`0.001). Protocol 3: PABA recovery with HPLC was 211 AE 12 mg/24 h, and the lower limit comprising 95% of subjects was 187 mg/24 h. Similar PABA recoveries were demonstrated in the younger subjects and the older subjects (211 AE 11 mg/24 h vs 211 AE 13 mg/24 h; NS). Conclusion: An advanced dosage schedule for PABA in the aged is recommended. Because of lower recoveries with HPLC, the low limit for recovered PABA in a complete 24 h urine differs from the limit based on colorimetry. This study found a limit of 187 mg/24 h corresponding to the lower 95% con®dence limit for a single subject.

The present study revealed a significant increase from 1995 to 2000-2002 in mean BMI for boys and girls for all age groups and a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight when all Danish children and adolescents (4-18 years) were analysed.