Do Children With IBD Consume Enough Fiber?

Although daily fiber intake among children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is similar to that of children in the general population, it is still often lower than recommended, according to a new study.

For their study, the researchers evaluated 50 children with IBD (median disease duration: 3.5 years) and 50 healthy controls. Age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were similar between groups.
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The 3-day diet record was used to collect food consumption information. Soluble and insoluble fiber intake was determined via questionnaires.

Findings showed that patients with IBD consumed a median of 15.3 g/day dietary fiber compared with 14.1 g/day among controls.

For soluble fiber, median intake was 5.0 g/day for IBD patients and 4.7 g/day for controls, and for insoluble fiber, median intake was 10.2 g/day for IBD patients compared with 9.7 g/day for controls.

The researchers observed that total fiber intake increased significantly with age, and that boys in each age group tended to consume more fiber. However, they noted that children in both groups did not meet adequate fiber intake recommendations.

“Intake of fiber in patients with IBD and healthy controls was comparable; however, in both groups, it was lower than recommended,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Pituch-Zdanowska A, Albrecht P, Banasiuk M, Banaszkiewicz A. Dietary fiber intake in children with inflammatory bowel disease. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2018;66(4):624-629. doi:10.1097/MPG.0000000000001736