Consumption of dairy products in adolescents in Tehran

Background: Dairy products are required for bone metabolism; however, the majority of adolescent do not consume the products adequately. This study was performed to assess the prevalence of dairy products consumption, daily calcium, vitamin D intake, and vitamin D deficiency.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, ۴۴۴ females and males’ students in middle and secondary school were recruited by using mixed sampling method. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to estimate dietary calcium and vitamin D consumption. Serum calcium, and ۲۵ (OH) vitamin D were measured. The data was analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version ۱۹.۰. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. T-test, Chi۲ and Spearman correlations tests were used as well.Results: Out of all participants, ۲۱۴ (۴۸.۲%) were females. The average age of the participants was ۱۴.۳۴ years and ۲۰۶ (۴۶.۶%) of the students were in middle and ۲۳۸ (۵۳.۶%) were in high school. ۴۰۹ (۹۲.۱%) of the students consumed at least one glass of milk per week. Calcium intake from milk and yoghurt was more than calcium intake from other dairy products. The amount of calcium lower than ۷۰۰ mg/day was consumed in ۱۷۶ (۳۹.۶%) of adolescents. There was a significant positive correlation between weekly calcium intake and serum vitamin D level (P=۰.۰۰۱). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was higher in females rather than males (۱۵۱ (۷۱.۲%) vs. ۴۰ (۱۷.۵ %)).Conclusion: Adolescents in Tehran do not consume dairy products enough. Indeed, encouraging teenagers to consume dairy products and alter in dietary patterns that improve calcium intake, should be taken in to consideration.