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Fat mass gain is lower in calcium-supplemented than in unsupplemented preschool children with low dietary calcium intakes^1,2,3

¹ From the EA Martin Program in Human Nutrition, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD

Background: Dietary calcium may play a role in the stimulation of lipolysis and the inhibition of lipogenesis, thereby reducing body fat.

Objective: The aim was to determine whether an association existed between change in percentage body fat (%BF) or fat mass and calcium intake in children aged 3–5 y.

Design: A secondary analysis of a 1-y randomized calcium and activity trial in 178 children was conducted. Three-day diet records and 48-h accelerometer readings were obtained at 0, 6, and 12 mo. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 0 and 12 mo.

Results: The decrease in %BF was less in girls (–0.6 ± 2.8%) than in boys (–1.5 ± 2.6%; P = 0.03) and correlated with age (r = 0.19, P = 0.01) and maternal body mass index (r = 0.19, P = 0.02). Changes in fat mass were not significantly different by activity group or between children randomly assigned to receive calcium or placebo (0.5 ± 0.9 and 0.6 ± 0.8 kg, respectively; P = 0.32). Similar findings were observed for the change in %BF. No correlations between %BF and fat mass changes and dietary calcium (r = –0.01, P = 0.9 and r = –0.05, P = 0.5) or total (dietary + supplement) calcium intake (r = –0.02, P = 0.8 and r = –0.06, P = 0.4) were observed. Among children in the lowest tertile of dietary calcium (<821 mg/d), fat mass gain was lower in the calcium group (0.3 ± 0.5 kg) than in the placebo group (0.8 ± 1.1 kg) (P = 0.04) but was not correlated with mean total calcium intake (r = –0.20).

Conclusion: These findings support a weak relation between changes in fat mass gain and calcium intake in preschool children, who typically consume below recommended amounts of dietary calcium.

Key Words: Preschool children • calcium • obesity • body fat • activity • diet