Abstract

Dietary fiber(DF) intake of teenagers was estimated and the major food sources of fiber were analyzed using three-day food records and data from 365 middle school students in urban, rural and fishing areas. Mean dwily DF intake of males was 9.2+/-3.9g in urban, 10.4+/-5.4g in rural, and 7.9+/-4.0g in fishing areas and the intake of female was 10.6+/-5.1g in urban, 10.6+/-5.2g in rural, and 7.7+/-3.3g in fishing areas. When related to energy intake, female consumed more DF(5.7+/-2.5g/1000 kcal, 7.0+/-3.5g/1000 kcal, 4.6+/-2.2g/1000 kcal, in urban, and rural, fishing areas respectively) than males(4.2+/-1.3g/1000 kcal, 4.6+/-1.5g/1000 kcal, 4.4+/-2.0g/1000 kcal in urban, rural, fishing respectively). Mean crude fiber(CF) intake of males was 4.1+/-1.7g, 4.5+/-2.4g, 3.7+/-2.4g, and female's intake was 4.7+/-1.9g, 4.8+/-2.2g, 3.7+/-1.9g in urban, rural, and fishing areas respectively. The mean DF : CF ratio for the subjects was 2.2-2.6, indicating that the DF intake is 2-3 times that of CF intakes. The intakes of the two measures of fiber were highly correlated(r=0.7781) . The major food sources for DF were cereals, vegetables and fruits and the percentage contributions of the food groups to the DF intake were 27-37%, 22-30%, and 11.5-19.7% respectively. The present study indicates that the DF intake of teenagers is considerably lower than the recommended level and they need to consume more DF than that indicated by the present levels. The importance of nutrition education on health and dietary pattern should also be emphasized among teenagers.

• Keywords: dietary fiber intake; crude fiber intake; food source of dietary fiber