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There is a paucity of data on dietary intakes of Native American youth in spite of their increased risk for diet-related disease, and, to our knowledge, there are no studies on nutrient intakes of Native American children aged 10 years and younger (1-9). In addition, there are no studies to our knowledge that look at the contribution of school meals to the dietary intakes of Native American youth.
The purpose of this study is to report on the nutrient and food intakes of children in the third grade (8 to 9 years of age) from the Apache, Lakota, Navajo, and Tohono O'odham communities. This research was done as part of the Pathways Feasibility Study, a multisite clinical trial to evaluate a school-based intervention to prevent obesity in Native American youth (10). Nutrient intakes are reported for the total group, with consideration given to the contribution of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Breakfast Program (SBP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to children's daily intakes. Food intakes are described by identifying the 10 most common food sources for total energy and energy from total fat.
METHODS
Sample
We invited 116 children from 4 schools (1 school from each of the Pathways field sites) to be involved in this study. Permission to participate in a 24-hour dietary recall was received from the parents of 101 (85%) children. Human Subjects Review Committees and tribal councils at each site approved the study.
Data Collection
The day before their recall, children were instructed on how to keep a semiquantified food record (11) and how to estimate portion size (12). The following day, 24-hour recall interviews were conducted with individual children in their schools using the Nutrition Data System (NDS) (version 2.7, University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center). Information on items available on the cafeteria line and preparation methods for school meals was obtained from food-- service workers and used in entering foods consumed at school.
Data Analysis
The nutrient-level data were analyzed using mixed model regression procedures using SAS PROC MIXED (version 6.12, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC).
Food-level data were added to the nutrient-based NDS data files by one of the authors (LBD) adapting a previously used procedure (13-16). The top 10 contributors of energy and total...