A reassessment of the fat intake of children from meat and meat products and an estimate of haem iron intakes

Background It is possible that fat intake from red meat has declined as a c onsequence of changes in animal husbandry and butchery practices. In partic ular, a study of the intake of vegetarian and meat-eating children conclude d that their fat intakes were similar, but the most recent information on t he fat content of meat was not available. In addition, iron availability is probably as important as the total amount of iron consumed but estimates o f haem iron intake are rarely made. Methods The dietary intake of 50 omnivorous children was reanalysed to prod uce new estimates of fat and haem iron intakes. Fat intake from meat and me at products only was recalculated using supplements to the food tables not available to the initial survey. Haem iron intake was calculated by discrim inating between the different types of meat consumed and estimates of the p roportion of iron which is in the haem form. Results The recalculated diets had significantly lower energy (8.03-7.50 MJ ), fat (79-73 g) and carbohydrate (257-237 g) levels. The proportions of en ergy from fat (36%) and carbohydrate (51%) were unaffected. Meat supplied 3 .2 mg (33%) of the iron intake (9.6 mg) of which 1.3-1.5 mg (13-16% of the total) was estimated to be in the haem form. Children may be relatively una ffected by the changes in the composition of meat as such, if they consume highly processed foods which include, for example, rusk, pastry, breadcrumb s and batter. Conclusions The original estimates of the intake of fat of these omnivorous children from meat and meat products do appear to have been overestimates, but only as the weight of fat consumed not as a percentage of energy. Haem iron was found to supply a substantial proportion of the iron intake of th ese children and may account for their higher haemoglobin values.