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Intake of the D vitamin at children at younger school age
PAVLÍČKOVÁ, Adéla
Vitamin D is an integral part of our diet. It is vital for a proper growth and development of a child. It affects development of bones, nervous system activity, neuron creation, and immune system. Currently, around 60% of European children suffer from its deficiency. Insufficient intake of vitamin D from animal sources can be the cause of the deficiency for this group. Up to 90% of vitamin D intake is caused by the sun. Thus, the cause of the deficit can also be the lowered time spent outside. I chose four goals for my bachelor's thesis. The first goal was to ascertain the amount of vitamin D that primary school children intake orally. The second goal I chose was to ascertain the significance of oral vitamin D supplements for primary school children. The third goal was to ascertain the number of products with vitamin D content that primary school children have in their diet. The last goal was to determine what part of dietary reference intake of vitamin D primary school children take in from food. The practical part dealt with the interpretation of the research results. The sample consisted of 20 subjects aged 6 to 12 years old, and the data were gathered in Písek and surrounding areas. The research method I chose was quantitative-qualitative. The data were gathered by questionnaires and menus. The questionnaires helped determine the number of products with vitamin D content that each subject consumed in a week. It also contained a question whether they supplement vitamin D. The menu helped determine the amount of vitamin D taken in from foods in a week. The collected data from menus were subsequently inputted into the Nutriservis software, which calculated the amounts of vitamin D in micrograms from the given foods. From these results, I calculated the overall weekly vitamin D intake and what percentage it made from the weekly oral dietary reference intake of vitamin D. If the subject used supplements, I added it to the calculation of weekly intake and determined the percentage of weekly oral dietary reference intake. The questionnaires indicate that among the most favourite products with vitamin D content are milk and dairy products. Less frequent but also significant are egg yolks and vegetable oils. Liver, however, was reportedly consumed by only three subjects out of 20 on a weekly basis. Based on the results, a conclusion can be drawn - vitamin D supplements play a significant role in the given age group. This claim is supported by the research results, which indicated that none of the subjects would have fulfilled the weekly oral dietary reference intake without vitamin D supplements. Currently supplementing were 8 out of 20 subjects. Seven out of the eight supplementing managed to fulfil the weekly oral dietary reference intake. These results indicate that it is necessary to increase awareness of both children and parents about vitamin D intake.
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