The impact of dairy product consumption on nutrient adequacy and weight of Head Start mothers.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend consumption of three servings of milk and milk products daily for most Americans(1). Coupled with other dietary sources of Ca, such as leafy green vegetables, beans and tofu, three servings of dairy should allow most women 19 to 50 years of age to meet their Ca requirement of 1000 mg/d(2). Consumption of dairy products has been associated with improved bone mineralization and reduced risk of osteoporosis(3), prevention and treatment of hypertension(4), and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes(5), metabolic syndrome(5) and stroke mortality(6). Dairy foods may also have favourable effects on body weight and body composition(7,8). Since milk and other dairy products are considered nutrient-dense beverages/foods, consumption improves overall diet quality(9,10). Using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intake for Individuals 1994–1996 (n 17 959), it was demonstrated that individuals in the highest quartiles of milk product intake had higher intakes of micronutrients than individuals in the lowest quartiles, except for vitamin C(11). Specifically, intakes of Ca, K, Mg, Zn, Fe, vitamin A, riboflavin and folate were higher in the highest quartiles of milk product consumption(11). In an intervention study designed to increase consumption of milk by 3 cups/d compared with usual diet, Barr et al.(12) showed that, compared with controls, the intervention group consumed significantly more energy, protein, cholesterol, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin, pantothenate, Ca, P, Mg, Zn and K. Ca, K, Mg and vitamin A were identified as shortfall nutrients in the diets of adults(1). Despite the health and nutrition advantages of consuming dairy products, intake of these foods by adults is low(9,13,14) and as many as 75% of women fail to meet the recommendations for Ca intake(14). There are ethnic differences in intake of dairy foods, with African-Americans and other ethnic minorities(9,15) in particular having very low intakes compared with European-Americans(9,14,16). Women in these ethnic groups may consume few dairy products because of real or perceived lactose intolerance(17) or lack of nutrition knowledge and the belief that they are not at risk for osteoporosis(18,19). Diets of low-income women, especially those in the southern USA(20,21), are very low in dairy products. Head Start is a national programme designed to promote school readiness by enhancing social and cognitive development of children through educational, health, nutrition, social and other services to children from birth to 5 years of age and families with incomes below the poverty line(22). Despite the critical role that mothers with children in Head Start have in providing a healthy diet and modelling good dietary behaviours for their children, little is known about their diet(23). Overall, however, low-income women tend to have diets that compromise their health(20,21). Females of low socio-economic status (SES) are more likely than middle- or high-SES females to report poor overall health(23), a chronic disease(24) or overweight/obesity(25). Thus it is critical to understand their diet more fully prior to designing interventions to improve it. The purposes of the present study were to examine the association of different levels of dairy product consumption with nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy and BMI of a group of ethnically diverse low-income mothers with children participating in Head Start.