Abstract
Daily intake of calcium and phosphorus in infants of less than 3 years old has been little known. Meals of 36 infants (0- to 3-year-old) in a nursery in Osaka Prefecture were collected by a duplicate portion method, and the dietary intakes of calcium and phosphorus were measured by ICP emission spectrometry after low temperature ashing. The average daily intake of calcium was 528 mg in 1-to3-year-old infants and was 229 mg in infants less than 1-year-old. The average dailyi ntake of phosphorus was 328 mg in less than 1-year-old infants and was 1, 221 mg in 1- to 3-year-old infants. The average ratio of phosphorus to calcium was 2.25 in all the infants, however, it was 2.46 in 2-year-old infants and 2.87 in 3-year-old infants. Ratio of 1.5 is considered appropriate, therefore the calcium intake should be increased for the improvement of the ratio of phosphorus to calcium in infants.
