Abstract
Background/objective:
Dietary assessment in children is difficult, suggesting a need to develop more objective biomarkers of intake. Resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) is a non-invasive, validated method of measuring carotenoid status in skin as a biomarker of fruit/vegetable intake. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using RRS in preschool children, to describe inter-individual variability in skin carotenoid status and to identify factors associated with the biomarker in this population.
Subjects/methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 381 economically disadvantaged preschoolers in urban centers in Connecticut (USA). In all, 85.5% were black non-Hispanic or Hispanic/Latino, and 14.1% were obese and 16.9% were overweight by age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) percentiles. Children had their skin carotenoid status assessed by RRS in the palm of the hand. Fruit/vegetable consumption was assessed by a brief parent/guardian-completed food frequency screener and a liking survey.
Results:
We observed inter-individual variation in RRS values that was nearly normally distributed. In multiple regression analysis, higher carotenoid status, measured by RRS, was positively associated with fruit/vegetable consumption (P=0.02) and fruit/vegetable preference (P<0.01). Lower carotenoid status was observed among younger children, those participating in the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and those with greater adiposity (P<0.05 for all).
Conclusions:
We observed wide variability in skin carotenoid status in a population of young children, as assessed by RRS. Parent-reported fruit/vegetable intake and several demographic factors were significantly associated with RRS-measured skin carotenoid status. We recommend further development of this biomarker in children, including evaluating response to controlled interventions.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Angela Corcoran for her contributions to data collection, and the preschool staff, children and parents who participated in this study. This work was supported by funding from R01 CA096838 (STM) and American Diabetes Association (VBD); Sub-Award No. A 05202 and M03A00158 (IVE and WG), R01 EY11600 (PSB) and an unrestricted departmental grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, NY) (PSB).
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Scarmo, S., Henebery, K., Peracchio, H. et al. Skin carotenoid status measured by resonance Raman spectroscopy as a biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake in preschool children. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 555–560 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.31
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