title: A dietary guideline adherence score is positively associated with dietary biomarkers but not lipid profile in healthy children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whether dietary indexes are associated with biomarkers of children's dietary intake is unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aim was to examine the relations between diet quality and selected plasma biomarkers of dietary intake and serum lipid profile.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample consisted of 130 children aged 4-13 y (mean ± SD: 8.6 ± 2.9 y) derived by using baseline data from an intervention study. The Dietary Guideline Index for Children and Adolescents (DGI-CA) comprises the following 11 components with age-specific criteria: 5 core food groups, whole-grain bread, reduced-fat dairy foods, discretionary foods (nutrient poor; high in saturated fat, salt, and added sugar), healthy fats/oils, water, and diet variety (possible score of 100). A higher score reflects greater compliance with dietary guidelines. Venous blood was collected for measurements of serum lipids, fatty acid composition, plasma carotenoids, lutein, lycopene, and α-tocopherol. Linear regression was used to examine the relation between DGI-CA score (independent variable) and concentrations of biomarkers by using the log-transformed variable (outcome), controlling for confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DGI-CA score was positively associated (P < 0.05) with plasma concentrations of lutein (standardized β = 0.17), α-carotene (standardized β = 0.28), β-carotene (standardized β = 0.26), and n-3 (ω-3) fatty acids (standardized β = 0.51) and inversely associated with plasma concentrations of lycopene (standardized β = -0.23) and stearic acid (18:0) (standardized β = -0.22). No association was observed between diet quality and α-tocopherol, n-6 fatty acids, or serum lipid profile (all P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diet quality, conceptualized as adherence to national dietary guidelines, is cross-sectionally associated with plasma biomarkers of dietary exposure but not serum lipid profile. This trial was registered with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (www.anztr.org.au) as ACTRN12609000453280.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Sansom Institute for Health Research (Public Health Concentration), University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia rebecca.golley@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Rebecca K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Golley
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Food and Nutritional Science, Adelaide, Australia; and.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McNaughton
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Gilly A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hendrie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001939:Bread; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003611:Dairy Products; D004032:Diet; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002523:Edible Grain; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D063427:Food Quality; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D014975:Lutein / Q000097:blood; D000077276:Lycopene; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D008055:Lipids; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids; C041635:alpha-carotene; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol; D000077276:Lycopene; D014975:Lutein
keywords: cardiovascular risk factor; child; diet quality; dietary biomarker; disease; validity