The nutritional impact of fortified ready-to-eat cereals on the diets of school age children

Abstract

The Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, 1995 data base was used to compare overall nutrient intake of cereal and noncereal eaters age 6 to 17 years-old. A total of 807 children were included in the study, 346 who ate cereal and 461 who did not eat cereal. Nutrients analyzed were total and percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (% RDA) for energy, protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium and iron. Calorie intake did not differ significantly between the cereal and noncereal eaters (2075 and 2092, respectively). Neither group, however, met the RDA for energy (96% for cereal eaters and 94% for noncereal eaters). Likewise, cereal and noncereal eaters did not differ significantly on protein intake either (72 g and 71 g, respectively). However, both groups consumed twice the RDA for protein (211% and 191%, respectively). School-age children who consumed cereal had significantly higher intakes of vitamin A (1074 RE) than those who did not eat cereal (721 RE). Cereal eaters exceeded the RDA (146%) while noncereal eaters did not even meet the RDA for vitamin A (94%). Intakes for cereal eaters of thiamin (2 mg), riboflavin (3 mg), and niacin (24 mg) were significantly higher than noncereal eaters (1 mg, 2 mg, and 18 mg, respectively). When compared to the RDA for thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin, both cereal eaters (183%, 199% and 169%, respectively) and noncereal eaters (127%, 130% and 118%, respectively) exceeded the RDA, although cereal eaters exceeded the RDA almost two-fold. Noncereal eaters consumed significantly less calcium than did cereal eaters (846 mg and 1061 mg, respectively). Cereal eaters were the only group to exceed the RDA for calcium (112%) while noncereal eaters fell below the RDA (85%). The total mean intake for iron was significantly higher for cereal eaters (20 mg) as opposed to noncereal eaters (12 mg). Again, both cereal and noncereal eaters met the RDA (178% and 104%, respectively), but the cereal eaters greatly exceeded the RDA. The findings of this study demonstrate the positive impact of fortified RTE breakfast cereal on the nutrient intake of school-age children, however, with the exception of calcium, fortification of RTE breakfast cereals with the investigated nutrients should not be increased any further.