Objectives: To describe the nutritional profile and assess the National Dietary Survey on the Child and Adolescent Population project in Spain (ENALIA) regarding usual total energy and macronutrient intake.
Methods: A cross-sectional nationally representative sample of 1862 children and adolescents (age 6 months to 17) was surveyed between 2013 and 2014 following European methodology recommendations. Dietary information was collected using two methods, dietary records (for children from age 6 months to 9 years) and 24-h dietary recall (participants age 10 and older). Usual intake was estimated by correcting for within-person intake variance using the Iowa State University (ISU) method. A probability analysis was used to assess compliance with dietary reference intakes in the target population.
Results: Protein consumption in the age 1-3 group as a percentage of total energy exceeded the upper limit of the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) by 4.7% for boys and 12.1% for girls. 42.9% of girls age 4-8 were under the lower limit of the AMDR for carbohydrates. 43.4% of boys and 46.9% of girls between 4 and 17 exceeded the AMDR in total fat intake, saturated fatty acids (SFAs) accounting for 12.3% of total energy.
Conclusions: The results suggest that Spanish children and adolescents could improve macronutrient distribution by reducing fat and increasing carbohydrate intake across all age groups, and decreasing protein intake, especially in young children.
Keywords: Adolescent; Child; Dietary surveys; Europe; Nutrient intake; Usual intake.