ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2021 May;180(5):195-201

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.19.04310-9

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Children anthropometric development: an analysis over food consumption and energy requirements

Roxana M. HADMAȘ ¹ ✉, Ștefan A. MARTIN ², Oana MĂRGINEAN ³

¹ Department of Community Nutrition and Food Safety, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology from Târgu Mureș, Târgu Mureș, Romania; ² Department of Physiology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology from Târgu Mureș, Târgu Mureș, Romania; ³ Department of Pediatrics I, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology from Târgu Mureș, Târgu Mureș, Romania

BACKGROUND: From the general population, children represent the most vulnerable group in which food consumption will have an important risk over both anthropometric and further cognitive development. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the anthropometric development and the caloric intake in healthy children aged between 3 and 7 years, in order to determine nutritional adequacy according to the age group and gender energy requirements.
METHODS: A transversal analytic study has been conducted between March and September 2019 on a group of 287 healthy children. The sample was divided into 3 groups: underweight (group 1: 74 subjects), normal weight (group 2: 133 subjects) and overweight group (group 3: 80 subjects).
RESULTS: The performed analysis shows that the caloric intake is significantly associated with the Body Mass Index (P=0.0001), weight (P=0.0001) and age (P=0.004), whereas the increase of energy intake was associated with an increase in body weight (r=0.271) and BMI (r=0.413), registering a decrease in relation to age (r=-0.219). High protein intake is shown to be significantly correlated with an increase in subjects’ height (P=0.02) and body weight (P=0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: The sample of children analyzed had an imbalanced intake of energy and macronutrients, this type of food intake being associated with an inadequate anthropometric development.

KEY WORDS: Child, preschool; Energy intake; Body weight; Malnutrition