title: Fluoride intake of infants in New Zealand.
abstract: Since the fluoride (F-) intake of New Zealand infants and young children is not known, a study was designed to determine and compare the F- intake of infants, aged 11 to 13 months, residing in fluoridated (F) and non-fluoridated (NF) areas. Parents of 60 infants duplicated quantitatively and qualitatively all food and drink that the infants ingested during a three-day period. The acid-diffusible F- content in the liquid homogenate was isolated by the HMDS-HCl diffusion technique (Taves, 1968) and measured by a fluoride electrode. The ionic F- in samples of breast milk was measured directly by the electrode. In the F area, the F- content of the food and drinks of 31 subjects ranged from 0.130 to 0.679 mg/kg (mean, 0.320; SD, 0.168); in the NF areas, the F- content of the food and drinks of 29 subjects ranged from 0.036 to 0.281 mg/kg (mean, 0.095; SD, 0.053). The dietary intake ranged from 0.089 to 0.549 mg F/day (0.009-0.056 mg F/kg bw) in the F area, and from 0.038 to 0.314 mg F/day (0.004-0.038 mg F/kg bw) in the NF area. Including F- from tablets and toothpastes, total intake ranged from 0.093 to 1.299 mg F/day (0.009-0.150 mg F/kg bw) and from 0.039 to 0.720 mg F/day (0.004-0.061 mg F/kg bw) in F and NF areas, respectively. The mean dietary intake of infants in the F area was about half the recommended "optimal" range; in the NF areas, the dietary intake was five to seven times less than the optimal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors: Department of Community Dental Health, School of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors: N G
authors: NG
authors: Chowdhury
authors: R H
authors: RH
authors: Brown
authors: M G
authors: MG
authors: Shepherd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005457:Fluoridation; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000032:analysis*; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D009520:New Zealand; D013025:Glycine max / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005459:Fluorides