THE IMPORTANCE OF BREAKFAST IN MEETING DAILY RECOMMENDED CALCIUM INTAKE IN A GROUP OF SCHOOLCHILDREN

Objective: To evaluate the breakfast intake of calcium and milk produc ts and to determine whether these correlate with total intake of both calcium and milk products. Methods: Food taken at breakfast and throug hout the day was recorded using a 7 consecutive day food record in 200 schoolchildren aged between 9 and 13 years. Results: 65.3% of boys an d 80.5% of girls showed intakes of calcium which were lower than recom mended. Milk products were the foods most frequently included in break fast (95.5% of subjects included them in this meal). A relationship wa s seen between energy provided by breakfast and the quantities of milk products (r=0.5735) and calcium (r=0.6908) taken at this meal. A rela tionship was also seen between energy provided by breakfast and daily intake of milk products (r=0.4633) and calcium (r=0.4954). The percent age of intakes of calcium lower than those recommended decreased when breakfast provided greater than or equal to 20% of total energy intake , and when the consumption of milk products at breakfast was greater t han the 50th percentile (200 mi). Subjects with breakfast milk product intakes greater than or equal to 200 mi showed higher intakes of the same over the rest of the day (233.3+/-140.4 g) than did those who too k lesser quantities of these foods at breakfast (161.5+/-100.6 g). Fur ther, those who took greater than or equal to 25% of the recommended i ntake of calcium at breakfast showed greater intakes of the same over the rest of the day (600.4+/-213.8 mg compared to 510.8+/-200.7 mg in subjects with lower calcium intakes). Conclusions: The intake of milk products (r=0.7587) and calcium (r=0.7223) at breakfast correlates wit h the consumption of these foods in the whole diet. However, the total daily intake of milk products and calcium does not depend solely on b reakfast intake. Subjects with the greatest intakes at breakfast also showed greater intakes over the rest of the day (r=0.3953 for mill; pr oducts and r=0.4122 for calcium).