Elsevier

Nutrition

Volume 31, Issue 6, June 2015, Pages 858-862
Nutrition

Applied nutritional investigation
Nutrient intake in neurofibromatosis type 1: A cross-sectional study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.12.021Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open access

Highlights

  • We investigated nutrient intake among 60 patients with neurofibromatosis type 1.

  • Intake was evaluated using three non-consecutive, self-reported 24-h recall surveys.

  • Inadequate nutrient intake was noted for vitamin D, B6, magnesium, and calcium.

  • Patients consumed excess sodium and insufficient fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate nutrient intake among adult neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 60 NF1 patients (29 men, 31 women) who were ≥18 y old and were evaluated from September 2012 to September 2013 in a neurofibromatosis outpatient reference center. Patients underwent nutritional assessment, including anthropometric and dietary data collection. Food intake was evaluated using three, non-consecutive, self-reported 24-h dietary recall surveys, and nutrient intake was analyzed according to the recommendations of the dietary reference intake document.

Results

Forty-three patients (72%) recorded energy consumption lower than the estimated daily energy requirement (EER). Men (25/29, 86.2%) were more likely to fail to meet their target EER, compared to women (18/31, 58.1%) (P = 0.016). Inadequate intake of vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, and pyridoxine was noted between men and women, and all patients consumed excess sodium. NF1 patients did not consume adequate amounts of fiber or vitamins A and C. Excessive consumption of saturated fatty acids and lipids was also observed in both male and female patients.

Conclusions

In this study, NF1 patients consumed an unhealthy diet that was rich in fats and sodium and lacking in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Further studies are needed to investigate the role of these dietary and nutritional patterns in the severity of the clinical manifestations of NF1.

Keywords

Neurofibromatosis type 1
Nutritional status
Food intake
Nutrient
Dietary pattern

Cited by (0)

Marcio Leandro Ribeiro de Souza participated in the conception and design of the study, as well as the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data. Ann Kristine Jansen participated in the conception and design of the study, as well as the analysis and interpretation of the data. Aline Stangherlin Martins participated in the conception and design of the study, as well as the analysis and interpretation of the data. Luiz Oswaldo Carneiro Rodrigues participated in the conception and design of the study, and the interpretation of data. Nilton Alves de Rezende participated in the conception and design of the study, as well as the analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors participated in the drafting and revision of the manuscript, and approved the final version.

The authors received financial support from two Brazilian government funding agencies: CAPES, National Council of Technological and Scientific DevelopmentCNPq (#471725/2013-7) and FAPEMIG (#APQ-00928-11; #PPM-00120-14). The funding sources played no role in the design, analysis, writing, or decision to publish.