Zinc and vitamin A intake and status in a national sample of British young people aged 4-18 y

Objective: To examine zinc and vitamin A intake and status and associated dietary, socio-demographic, lifestyle and physiological factors in British young people. Design: National Diet and Nutrition Survey of young people aged 4 - 18 y. Setting: Great Britain, 1997. Subjects: Complete 7-day weighed dietary records were provided by 1520 participants, while 1193 provided blood samples. Results: A total of 13 and 11% of participants respectively reported low dietary intakes of zinc and vitamin A ( retinol equivalents), relative to the UK lower reference nutrient intake. These percentages were not altered significantly by including contributions to intake from supplements, mainly containing vitamin A ( as retinol). Likelihood of low zinc and/or vitamin A intake was more often associated with age, sex and likely under-reporting of food consumption than with other sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Low zinc and vitamin A intakes were generally less likely in those with higher consumption of dairy foods ( mainly milk). Zinc and vitamin A status ( assessed by plasma zinc and retinol concentrations) were adequate in almost all participants. Plasma zinc concentration was not significantly associated with zinc intake. Plasma retinol concentration was correlated with vitamin A intake ( overall r = 0.17, P<0.001; adjusted for age and plasma alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin concentration) and increased significantly with age ( P<0.001) in both sexes. A significant association was found between plasma zinc and retinol concentrations in boys only ( r = 0.17, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Zinc and vitamin A intakes and status were generally adequate in this national sample of British young people.