EFFECTS OF A NONENERGY FAT SUBSTITUTE ON CHILDRENS ENERGY AND MACRONUTRIENT INTAKE

To determine whether children adjusted their energy intake in response to covert manipulations in the proportion of energy from dietary fat, 24-h food intake of 29 2- to 5-y-old children was measured over four 2-d blocks. In this within-subject crossover design, in the first thre e meals of the first day of each block, children consumed foods contai ning dietary fat or a nonenergy fat substitute, which provided 10% of total daily energy intake. Children compensated for the missing energy ; cumulative energy intake differed by only 100 kJ over 2 d. Substitut ion for dietary fat reduced the percent of energy from fat from 38.7% to 36.4%. Children's intake at individual meals was highly variable (x BAR CV 24.7%) relative to the variability of total daily energy intake (CV = 8.6%). To produce this pattern, children adjusted energy intake across successive meals. Use of a fat substitute at 10% of energy fro m dietary fat did not significantly reduce 24-h energy intake.