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Cross-Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition is known to be an indicator of dietary fat quality, but the associations of other dietary factors with plasma FA composition remain unknown in children. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of food consumption with the proportions of FA and estimated desaturase activities in plasma cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids (PL) among children. The subjects were a population sample of 423 children aged 6–8 years examined at baseline of The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study. We assessed food consumption by food records and plasma FA composition by gas chromatography. We used linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, physical activity and total energy intake to analyze the associations. A higher consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine (fat 60–80 %) was associated with a higher proportion of linoleic and α-linolenic acids in plasma CE and PL. A higher consumption of high-fiber grain products was related to a lower proportion of oleic acid in CE and PL. The consumption of candy was directly associated with the proportion of palmitoleic and oleic acid in plasma CE. The consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine was inversely associated with estimated stearoyl-CoA-desaturase activity in plasma CE and PL and the consumption of candy was directly related to it in plasma CE. The results of our study suggest that plasma FA composition is not only a biomarker for dietary fat quality but also reflects the consumption of high-fiber grain products and foods high in sugar among children.

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Abbreviations

CE:

Cholesteryl ester

FA:

Fatty acid(s)

PL:

Phospholipid(s)

SCD:

Stearoyl-CoA-desaturase

D6D:

∆6-Desaturase

D5D:

∆5-Desaturase

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all voluntary subjects and their families participating in The PANIC Study. We are also gratefully indebted to the research team for the skillful contribution in performing the study. Especially Mrs. Sirkku Karhunen is gratefully acknowledged for her expertise in the assessment of plasma FA. The PANIC Study was financially supported by grants from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Juho Vainio Foundation, the Foundation for Paediatric Research, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research, the Paulo Foundation, the Diabetes Research Foundation and the Kuopio University Hospital (EVO-funding number 5031343). The work of Taisa Venäläinen was supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Juho Vainio Foundation and the Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research. The work of Vanessa de Mello was supported by the Academy of Finland.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors had conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedicine, Physiology, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, FI-70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Taisa Venäläinen, Jyrki Ågren, Virpi Lindi, Aino-Maija Eloranta, Sanna Kiiskinen & Timo A. Lakka

  2. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Taisa Venäläinen, Ursula Schwab & Vanessa de Mello

  3. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, Public Health, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Aino-Maija Eloranta

  4. Institute of Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Ursula Schwab & David Laaksonen

  5. Kuopio Research Institute of Exercise Medicine, Kuopio, Finland

    Timo A. Lakka

  6. Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Timo A. Lakka

Authors
  1. Taisa Venäläinen
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  2. Ursula Schwab
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  3. Jyrki Ågren
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  4. Vanessa de Mello
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  5. Virpi Lindi
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  6. Aino-Maija Eloranta
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  7. Sanna Kiiskinen
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  8. David Laaksonen
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  9. Timo A. Lakka
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Correspondence to Timo A. Lakka.

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Venäläinen, T., Schwab, U., Ågren, J. et al. Cross-Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children. Lipids 49, 467–479 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-014-3894-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-014-3894-7

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