Dietary fatty acid intake, its food sources and determinants in European adolescents: the HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) Study.

Dietary fatty acids (FA) play a role in several (patho)physiological processes at any age, and different FA have different effects on lipid status and health outcome. The present study aims to describe the FA intake and its main food sources in a population of healthy European adolescents and to assess the variation in intake as a function of non-dietary factors. FA intake was assessed with 24 h recall interviews in 1804 adolescents aged 12·5-17·5 years. Usual intakes were calculated using the multiple source method. Multilevel analyses, adjusting for study centre, were used to investigate the influence of non-dietary factors. The mean total fat intake was 33·3 (sd 1·2) % of total energy intake (%E). The mean SFA intake was 13·8 (sd 1·2) %E, with 99·8 % of the population exceeding the recommendations. SFA was mainly delivered by meat and cake, pies and biscuits. In most adolescents, the PUFA intake was too low, and 35·5 % of the population did not achieve the minimum recommended intake for α-linolenic acid (ALA). The main determinants of FA intake in the present study population were age and sex, as well as physical activity in the male subgroup. No contributions of body composition, socio-economic status or sexual maturation to the variance in FA intake were observed. In conclusion, the most important public health concerns regarding FA intake in this adolescent population were the low intake of ALA and the high intake of SFA, mainly seen in the younger-aged boys. In this group the major contributor to SFA was meat.

Intake and serum profile of fatty acids are weakly correlated with global dietary quality in European adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed whether compliance with the Food-Based Dietary Guidelines is related to habitual fatty acid (FA) intake and blood lipid parameters. METHODS: Dietary information was collected by two non-consecutive 24-h recalls in 1804 European adolescents. Compliance with the Food-Based Dietary Guidelines was expressed by calculating the Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A). Blood samples were collected in a randomly selected subset (n = 552). Relations between FA intake/serum concentrations and DQI-A were tested with multilevel regression analysis to correct for the study design (clustering within cities). Analyses were stratified for gender; age was entered as a covariate. RESULTS: Better DQI-A scores were related to increased proportional intakes of energy from total fat, saturated FA, monounsaturated FA, and cholesterol (P < 0.001), whereas no significant association was observed with polyunsaturated FA intakes. In adolescents with higher compared with lower DQI-A scores, dairy products contributed more (21.0% versus 12.7%) and low-nutrient, energy-dense items contributed less (17.2% versus 26.3%) to the intake of total fat. A positive association was observed between the DQI-A scores and serum concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (all P < 0.005). The latter, however, was significant only in girls. In boys, higher DQI-A scores were inversely associated with serum cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although compliance with the Food-Based Dietary Guidelines was not always associated with a favorable FA intake pattern, a significant favorable association with some serum biomarkers was observed. This outcome underlines the importance of considering dietary habits instead of single-nutrient intakes.