Dietary habits and plasma fatty acid levels in a population of Italian children : is there any relationship ?

The relationships between dietary habits and the blood fatty acid (FA) profile have been poorly explored, particularly in children. Aim of the present investigation was to look at the associations between dietary habits and the plasma pattern of FA in a school-age population. In 105 healthy 8-years old children, the nutritional habits have been evaluated by means of a Food Frequency Questionnaire and a 24-h recall. FA analyses (expressed as FA%) were performed by means of capillary gas chromatography. Statistics: non-parametric tests. The children with high pasta and low red meat consumption (n=9), compared to those with either medium or low pasta and either high or medium red meat consumption (n=96), showed lower levels of total saturated (29% vs. 35%, P=0.001) and higher levels of total monounsaturated (30% vs. 24%, P=0.04) FA in plasma. They also showed lower levels of LDL cholesterol (90 vs. 109mg/dl, P=0.08) and fasting insulin (4.0 vs. 6.3μU/ml, P=0.04) in blood. A high consumption of pasta coupled with a low intake of red meat may be marker of a food behaviour and/or lifestyle associated with a more favourable pattern of circulating FA and hematochemical metabolic markers.