The Association between Macronutrients and Calcium Intake among the Schoolchildren in KL, Malaysia

Hew, Ming Ke (2019) The Association between Macronutrients and Calcium Intake among the Schoolchildren in KL, Malaysia. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Childhood and adolescence are the important stages for skeletal mineralization among the entire life. Schoolchildren should consume proper amount of calcium in order to prevent calcium deficiency. This study aimed to determine the association between macronutrients and calcium intake among schoolchildren in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 392 schoolchildren that aged 10 to 11 years were involved in this cross-sectional study. They were selected randomly from 298 primary schools in Kuala Lumpur area. The data was collected using three non-consecutive days 24-hours diet recalls. Male schoolchildren had a higher mean calorie (1957 kcal ± 351.4) compared to female schoolchildren (1945 kcal ± 332.5). On the other side, female schoolchildren had a higher mean calcium (514.0 mg) compared to male schoolchildren (503.6 mg). There was no significance difference (p-value > 0.05) in calcium intake among different group of age (p-value = 0.598), gender (p-value = 0.771) and race (p-value = 0.697). A positive correlation was observed between calorie (r = 0.443, p-value<0.001), carbohydrate (r = 0.300, p-value<0.001), protein (r = 0.485, p-value<0.001), fat (r = 0.243, p-value<0.001), cholesterol (r = 0.253, p-value<0.001), saturated fat (r = 0.261, p-value<0.001 ) and monounsaturated fat (r = 0.138, p-value=0.006) with calcium intake while polyunsaturated fat (r = ˗0.073, p-value=0.148) has a negative correlation with calcium intake. In conclusion, the higher intake of carbohydrate, protein, fat, cholesterol, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat will increase calcium intake while the higher intake of polyunsaturated fat will decrease calcium intake.