American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 9, 729-734, Copyright © 1961 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Relationships Between Animal Protein, Total Protein and Total Caloric Intakes in the Diets of Children from One to Eighteen Years of Age

¹ From the Department of Maternal and Child Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

The percentage of total protein derived from animal sources in the diets of children is presented and is followed by the percentage of total calories derived from total protein. These data have been compiled for each of 125 children at each age interval from one to eighteen years.

In both sexes there is a tendency for higher percentages of animal protein to occur at the younger and older ages, with a minimum at twelve to thirteen years for girls, and thirteen to fourteen years for boys. These ratios of the means for each sex and at yearly intervals represent an average percentage of animal protein which is approximately two-thirds or more of the total protein consumed. The average values for the girls for the first nine years are somewhat higher than those of the boys.

The majority of these boys and girls at all ages had protein intakes representing approximately 12 to 14 per cent of their total caloric intakes.

A more complete picture of the individual variations in the percentage of animal protein consumed is obtained from a study of the longitudinal patterns of the percentage of total protein from animal sources at certain specified age intervals, i.e., one to six, six to twelve, twelve to eighteen and one to eighteen years.

The lowest and highest percentage of calories derived from total protein were 9.7 per cent and the highest 16.1 per cent, respectively. Data are presented showing the distribution of these boys and girls according to their longitudinal patterns of percentage of total calories derived from protein, and allow consideration of their variability from one age period to another.

Finally, with the completion of this report, we have comparable nutrient intake material over a seventeen-year span on these 125 children in five categories: (1) total caloric intakes; (2) total protein intakes; (3) total animal protein intakes; (4) percentages of animal protein from total protein; and (5) percentage of total calories from total protein.