Assessment of dietary carotenoids intakes and sources in the ESO population (12‐16 years) in the Andrés de Vandelvira High School in Albacete

Resumen del trabajo presentado a la Reunión Nacional sobre Carotenoides en Microorganismos, Plantas, Alimentación y Salud, celebrada en Valencia del 16 al 17 de noviembre de 2017.
The “Encuesta Nacional de Ingesta Dietética” (ENIDE) was a cross‐sectional survey involving a sample of non‐institutionalized individuals (n= 3000), aged 18–64 years, that was designed to be representative of the Spanish population. Different studies about the carotenoid intakes in Spain were developed by using this survey. However, no studies about the Carotenoids consumption were focused in the teenager’s period (12‐16 years). A sampling plan (SP) was performed by vocational training (VC) students from “Laboratory and Quality Control”, together with research centres from UCLM and CSIC, about the Carotenoids Intake in ESO students (12‐16 years) to disseminate the benefits of their consumption and to detect deficiencies. According to the results and comparing with the ENIDE survey, the intake of alfa‐carotene was significantly lower than the average in Spain. The intake of one unit of carrot or one unit of banana could avoid the observed deficiency in alfa‐carotene. Therefore, a possible awareness campaign could be focused in these two food products. Moreover, an optimized sampling plan designed by experts in statistics and carotenoids could be developed by VC Laboratory and Quality Control students within a Project based learning in their own High Schools with their own ESO colleagues to obtain an accurately survey in Spain focused in the teenager’s period. To develop this survey a large sample size, n>1000 students (95% confidence level and margin of error ±3%) should be necessary, in order to carry out this Project Based Learning in at least 3 High Schools from different cities in Spain.