Dietary studies of Preschool Children (1) : Comparative Studies on Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in a Mountain-, a Farm- and a Fishing-Village by the Calculation Method about Pattern of Numerics

摘要

The present survey was made to find the nutritional intake of preschool children from 3 to 6 years of age in four agricultural districts (a mountain-village, a flat farm-village, and a suburban farm-village) and a fishing area in Niigata prefecture for 3 days running for every season (for 12 days in a whole year) from 1966 to 1970. The results of the kinds and amounts of foods eaten by individuals and those of nutritional intakes were compared with the food constitution standard of the Japanese Council of Nutrition for 1975, and with the daily recommended allowances of the council for 1970 as the reference standard, respectively, Both the food constitution and nutrient intake pattern of 5 districts were studied by the calculation method about pattern of numerics developed by Tamura et al. (1) Both the patterns of 5 districts show a seasonal difference in connection with the economic and geographical conditions ; the nutritional status of the children is relatively better in autumn, but poor in summer as a general rule. (2) The food constitution pattern of the children in the fishing area has highest pattern similarity with that of the standard (0.957), and the pattern of the children who live in the mountainous farm-village has lowest one with it (0.797). The primary factor reducing the pattern similarity with that of the standard is the over-eating of fish and fish products in the fishing area, while it is the poor intake of milk and milk products in four farm districts followed by an insufficient consumption of meats, fats and oils and green leafy vegetables. (3) The nutrient intake pattern of the mountain-village in autumn shows highest pattern similarity with that of the standard (0.984), but shows lowest one in summer (0.954). The pattern similarity of the fishing-village to the standard pattern ranges from 0.956 to 0.961. This unexpectedly low record of the village is caused by over-intake of animal protein, fat, calcium and iron. (4) Poor intakes of vitamins, especially vitamin A, thiamine and riboflavin, are common to all children in the farm and fishing area.