Dietary choline intake and relationship to biomarkers in school-aged children
Alejandra M. Wiedeman Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. Vol. 45, 2020 S55
Choline is essential for growth and development during childhood
and is a precursor for phosphatidylcholine, acetylcholine, and betaine.
Dietary choline recommendations are adequate intakes (AIs) set
by the National Academy of Medicine in 1998 and the European Food
Safety Authority in 2016. However, there are limited data on dietary
choline intake in school-aged children.
This study assessed dietary
intakes of choline and determined the relationship to plasma choline
metabolites in children (5-6 years; n=213; 51% female). Dietary intakes
of choline and betaine were estimated by 3-d food records. Plasma free
choline, betaine, and dimethylglycine were quantified by liquid
chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Dietary intakes of choline and betaine were (median [IQR]) 229 (184-185) and 81 (60-107) mg/d,
respectively. Children were predominantly consuming choline in
the form of phosphatidylcholine, free choline, and glycerophosphocholine (48, 21, and 21%, respectively) from animal food sources
including dairy, meats, and eggs (28, 18, and 13%, respectively).
Although the average choline intake was close or above the AIs, only 37%
of the children were meeting the AI- set by the National Academy of
Medicine (≥250 mg/d) compared to 80% of the children meeting the AI
set by the European Food Safety Authority (≥170 mg/d). Plasma free
choline, betaine, and dimethylglycine concentrations were (mean ±
SD) 8.61 ± 2.11, 45.4 ± 14.1, and 3.34 ± 0.99 mol/L, respectively. No
relationships were found between dietary intakes of choline and betaine and biomarkers of status.
These findings suggest that 63% and
20% of school-aged children were not meeting the recommended choline AIs as set by the National Academy of Medicine and European
Food Safety Authority, respectively. Plasma biomarkers of status may
not be appropriate indicators of dietary intake for choline and betaine
in children. Further work is required to investigate the dietary requirements of choline during development and to identify biomarkers of dietary intakes in children