Vitamin status of the Spanish population

Abstract

The Recommended Nutrient Intakes (R.I.) of all the nutrients are studied and fixed for our census (1980), according to the age, sex and activity. Comparative studies are also carried out through Balance Sheets and Nutrition survey of vitamins consumption. In our country, as in others, we have not enough information about clinical or subclinical deficiencies, neither about loss due to cooking processes, that is why the data obtained from the consumption of nutrient, must be relativized in order to consider the nutritional status of the population. The study is carried out with data of the years 1973, first data sufficiently solvent, and 1974 and 1979 period of important economic crisis which repercussion in nutrition can be interesting. The incidence on the consumption of the touristic population has also been considered. Our diet is at the same level than in the other european countries, with an excess of energetic consumption (40% higher of the R.I.) and normal caloric contribution between the different macronutrients. The average consumptions of vitamins are satisfactory, except for the riboflavin, dangerously situated near the R.I. levels which could reflect problems of deficiency in wide groups of population.