American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 19, 335-341, Copyright © 1966 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Vitamin to Creatinine Ratios

Variability in Separate Voidings of Urine of Adolescents During a 24 Hour Period

¹ From the Department of Home Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington

The separate voidings of urine collected during approximately 24 hours by thirty subjects were analyzed for thiamine, riboflavin and creatinine content. From these data ratios of these vitamins to creatinine (microgram per gram creatinine) were calculated to investigate the variability during the day of these ratios for each subject. Dietary intake was recorded by the subjects during the collection period. All subjects were on their normal diets.

A wide range of variations (expressed as coefficients of variation) were found for these ratios among the subjects. For the boys these coefficients of variation ranged from 12 to 72 per cent (mean of 35 per cent) for thiamine and from 12 to 64 per cent (mean of 36 per cent) for riboflavin. For the girls these values ranged from 16 to 54 per cent (mean of 31 per cent) for thiamine and from 7 to 70 per cent (mean of 32 per cent) for riboflavin.

Thiamine and riboflavin intakes for most subjects met or exceeded daily recommended dietary allowances. The excretion data also indicated "acceptable" and "high" intakes. This would suggest that a rough estimate of the nutritional status of a population can be obtained from a single random sample.