Nutrition Unit, Department of Public Health Solutions, The National Institute for Health and Welfare, PO Box 30, 00271 Helsinki, Finland. marianne.prasad@thl.fi.
Fruit and vegetable intake has been associated with a reduced risk of many chronic diseases. These foods are the main dietary source of carotenoids. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the associations between dietary intake and serum concentrations of a- and ß-carotene in a sample of young Finnish children from the population-based birth cohort of the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study. The current analysis comprised 3-day food records and serum samples from 207 children aged 1, 2 and 3 years. Spearman and partial correlations, as well as a cross-classification analyses, were used to assess the relationship between dietary intake and the corresponding biomarkers. Serum concentrations of a- and ß-carotene were significantly higher among the 1-year-old compared to the 3-year-old children. Dietary intakes of a- and ß-carotene correlated significantly with their respective serum concentrations in all age groups, the association being highest at the age of 1 year (a-carotene r = 0.48; p