Objective To assess the dietary aluminum intake of primary and middle school students in Shanghai.
Methods In 2015, primary and middle school students (n=4 320) in Shanghai were enrolled by multi-stage stratified random sampling method. A diet survey was conducted by 24-hour diet recall method in three consecutive days, followed by food aggregation according to total diet study, food sampling and preparation, and determination of aluminum concentration in the samples to assess the dietary exposure level of aluminum in students.
Results A total of 3 970 primary and middle school students in Shanghai completed the survey. In addition to seasonings and cooking oil, the daily dietary consumption of total studied students was 1 853.42 g/d, and high school students (2 938.91 g/d) consumed more food than junior middle school students (1991.65g/d), grade 4-5 primary school students (1648.75g/d), and grade 1-3 primary school students (1531.18g/d). The daily dietary consumption of students in downtown areas (1 932.56g/d) was higher than that of students in urban-rural fringe area and rural area (1686.44 and 1777.70g/d) (F=27.18, P < 0.01). The average level of aluminum in dietary samples was 4.61mg/kg, and did not exceed the national limit (100mg/kg). The average weekly dietary aluminum intake was 1.06mg/kg (in terms of per kg of body weight), and 5.65% of the students' dietary aluminum intake exceeded the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). The main sources of dietary aluminum intake were milk, grain, and drink and water. The dietary aluminum intake varied among the students grouped by grade, and 10.78% of the grade 1-3 primary school students' dietary aluminum intake exceeded PTWI. There was no difference in dietary aluminum intake among students in different regions or of different genders.
Conclusion The dietary aluminum intake of selected primary and middle school students in Shanghai are generally at a low level; however, it is still necessary to prevent the health risks caused by excessive dietary aluminum intake in the grade 1-3 primary school students.
DownLoad: