Dietary intake in asylum seeker children in The Netherlands, strongly related to age and origin

Abstract

Objective: To monitor the dietary intake of energy, macro-and micronutrients in asylum seeker children. Design and setting: Cross-sectional study in three asylum seeker centres in The Netherlands. Subjects: Hundred and sixteen children 2-12 years old (86% of the study cohort) provided a dietary history. Method: The dietary intake was estimated by 24 h recall, and the origin of the children was classified in three geographic regions: African (n ¼ 45), Central Asia (n ¼ 34) or Eastern Europe (n ¼ 37). Results: The total energy intake from fat was in 24% of the children above 40En%. Seventy per cent of the children above 4 year of age had a saturated fat intake above 10En%. The children from Eastern Europe had a higher intake of fat and disaccharides than the children from the other regions. Among the children, an intake less than 80% of the recommended daily allowances of micronutrients was found for calcium (42%), iron (49%), vitamin A (45%) and vitamin D (80%). An inadequate dietary intake of iron and vitamin D was significantly more seen among the youngest children, whereas an inadequate intake of calcium and vitamin A was found more among the elder children. Conclusions: The dietary intake of a prominent proportion of these children contains too much fat and insufficient amounts of calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin D. The low micronutrient intake of the asylum seeker children can be considered as a nutritional risk. Nutritional education and strategies to improve the macro-and micronutrient intake of asylum seeker children is indicated.

Iron Deficiency Among Children of Asylum Seekers in The Netherlands

“…We recently demonstrated that asylum seekers' children in the Netherlands frequently have low dietary iron intake (9). However, it has remained unclear to what extent iron status of asylum seekers' children is compromised during their stay in the Netherlands.…”