Longitudinal Study of Nutrient and Food Intakes of Infants Aged 2 to 24 Months

Intake of vitamin D by Finnish children aged 3 months to 3 years in relation to sociodemographic factors

“…However, Finnish children use more vitamin supplements containing vitamin D than has been reported in studies performed in child populations in other Western countries (Davies et al, 1999;Skinner et al, 1997Skinner et al, , 1999Noble et al, 2001). It is noteworthy, however, that the recommendation on the use of vitamin D supplementation varies in different countries and that study methods, time periods and definitions of dietary supplements, the sample selection and size as well as the age of the study subjects vary between the studies.…”

“…To increase vitamin D in the diet, low-fat vitamin Dfortified milk and dietary products made from vitamin Dfortified milk have been emphasized as good food sources (Skinner et al, 1997(Skinner et al, , 1999. In Finland, milk has been supplemented since February 2003 with 0.5 mg vitamin D per 100 g. This supplementation will bring an important addition to the intake of vitamin D in children, although the use of vitamin D supplements is still needed.…”

“…At high latitudes, where only little sunlight is available during the winter, the production of vitamin D is reduced for 4-6 months of the year (Webb and Holick, 1988). Data from Finland and from other European countries as well as USA have shown vitamin D intake in children to be lower than recommended (Kylberg et al, 1986;Lamberg-Allardt et al, 1984;Ylönen et al, 1996;Lagström et al, 1997;Skinner et al, 1997). Fortified margarine and fish are the most important sources of vitamin D in the diet of adults in Finland (Lahti-Koski and Kilkkinen, 2001).…”

Validation of energy requirement equations for estimation of breast milk consumption in infants

“…2 Energy intake (EI) from measured food consumption adjusted for body weight of infants (', boys; m, girls) from the DONALD (DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) Study sample at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age, together with gender-specific trend lines (-, boys; ---, girls), compared with reference energy requirements for boys (&) and (n) girls (12) (23) Fig. 3 Total energy intake (EI) assessed by 3 d weighed dietary records differentiated for breast milk ( ), formula ( ) and complementary food ( ) from the DONALD (DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) Study sample at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age, compared with energy from an assumed amount of breast milk (-, 780 ml (3 and 6 months) or 600 ml (9 and 12 months) (2,8) ; ---, 750 ml (2,8) ) Fig. 4 Difference between total measured energy intake (EI) and energy requirements (ER) estimated using three equations (Equation_1, Equation_2, Equation_3), displayed as a percentage of EI, in the DONALD (DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) Study sample at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age.…”

“…Various methods exist to estimate breast milk consumption including measurement of dose-to-the-mother 2 H 2 O turnover (1) , the test-weighing method (3,4) (where the infant is weighed before and after each breast milk feeding for 24 h), assumption of a specific breast milk volume depending on the feeding duration and age of the baby (5,7) , and the assumption of a single volume of breast milk (e.g. 750 ml/d) irrespective of the age of the breast-fed infant (2,8) .Each of these methods has specific advantages and disadvantages (9) . For example, dose-to-the-mother 2 H 2 O turnover and test-weighing are reportedly the most accurate methods (9) but are not feasible in large epidemiological studies due to the high costs, requirement for personnel and logistics involved.…”