Carotenoid Concentrations in Children Vary With Ethnicity

Carotenoid Concentrations in Children Vary With Ethnicity

ATLANTA--Using data from the third National Healthand Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers from the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) discovered that serum concentrations of carotenoidsvary significantly among U.S. children and adolescents. The cross-sectionalstudy, printed in the October issue of The American Journal of ClinicalNutrition (76, 4:818-27, 2002) (www.ajcn.org),involved 4,231 subjects between the ages of 6 and 16 years. By investigatingserum concentrations of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin,lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene, researchers found age and body mass indexstatus were inversely related to all carotenoid concentrations except lycopene.They also learned that the boys had slightly higher carotenoid concentrationsthan the girls, although the differences were only significant for lycopene.Black children had significantly higher beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthinand lycopene concentrations, but lower alpha-carotene than white children.Mexican-American children had higher alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, luteinand zeaxanthin concentrations but lower lycopene concentrations than whitechildren.