Background: The vegetarian diet may play a preventive role in the development of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer and diabetes. In the literature only a few papers concerning benefits to health from vegetarian diet have been reported in children.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate serum concentration of vitamin A (retinol) and E (alpha-tocopherol) in children on vegetarian and omnivorous diet. Material and methods. Vitamins A and E were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in blood of 17 vegetarians and 16 nonvegetarian children.
Results: In the group of vegetarian mean plasma concentration of vitamin A and E was statistically lower as compared to those in nonvegetarian children (1.56 micromol/l vs 1.93 micromol/l, p < 0.05; 13.6 micromol/l vs 18.4 micromol/l, p < 0.001). In children on vegetarian diet total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were significantly lower, whereas HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were in the range observed in control group. In vegetarian ratio of tocopherol-to-total cholesterol and tocopherol-to-lipids was statistically lower than those in children on omnivorous diet.
Conclusion: Since vitamins A and E are important parts in antioxidant defence systems, their low levels may be insufficient for scavenging of free radicals in the cells. In order to recommend dietary guidelines the further studies are needed on large groups of children on different types of vegetarian diet.