Body Composition in Preschool Children

Thailand has been facing with the double burden of malnutrition. Many studies in Thailand, which aim to explore the situation, causes, and strategies to prevent obesity, have focused on adults, adolescents, or school-aged children. Few studies have been conducted in preschool children. Obesity or stunting during childhood increases the risk of being obesity in adulthood and leads to chronic diseases. If obesity is established in adulthood, it is difficult to reduce the excess weight. Thus, the prevention of obesity or stunting in young children should be highly considered. Study of dietary pattern and reliable field methods to measure fat mass (FM) in children may partly contribute to primary prevention of childhood obesity. The deuterium dilution technique is an accurate and suitable method for children and population-based studies. However, it has not been widely used in children in Thailand. Hence, this study aimed to utilize the deuterium dilution technique for assessing body composition and to determine the quality and quantity of dietary intake among children 3-5 years of age with different nutritional status. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 15 daycare centers in Nakhon Pathom and Samut Prakarn provinces. 120 preschoolers were purposively selected according to their nutritional status: stunted, thin, normal, and overweight/obese. Anthropometric measurements were conducted. Body composition was determined based on total body water using deuterium dilution technique. Dietary intake data were obtained using 2-day 24 hr recall.We hypothesized that stunted and obese children will have more fat mass compared to the normal children.