Abstract Increased Ca intake by adolescents is desirable. In order to achieve this, information on the current dietary sources of Ca by this age group is essential to enable change to build on existing habits. This paper addresses two issues: first, the dietary sources of Ca for adolescents are reported and, second, the importance of fortification of flour with Ca to present-day Ca intakes was determined. In 1990 the diets of 379 children aged 12 years were assessed using the 3 d dietary diary and interview method. Computerized food tables were used to calculate the contributions of different food groups to total Ca intake. The Ca content of eachfood was subdivided into naturally occurring Ca and Ca from fortification, and data were analysed to give the daily intake of each. The four most important sources of Ca were milk (25%), beverages (12%), puddings (10%) and bread (9%). Fortification of flour accounted for 13% of total Ca intake. When the contribution of fortification was removed, the proportion of subjects with intakes of Ca below the lower reference nutrient intake (Department of Health, 1991) increased more than fourfold, to 10% of girls and 12% of boys. Milk is contributing less to Ca intake than in the past and increased consumption should be encouraged. Ca fortification of flour remains an important source of Ca. Therefore, unless dietary habits are modified to ensure adequate Ca from other sources, increased consumption of unfortified products from outside the UK will lead to a further reduction in Ca intake.

Vegetable fats and oils are major sources of dietary vitamin E. Consequently the current trend to reduce fat consumption is accompanied by a reduction of the intake of vitamin E. In addition, the absorption of vitamin E is thought to be dependent on the hydroiysis of dietary lipids in the small intestine. It is therefore conceivable that a lower dietary fat intake also diminishes the intestinal absorption of vitamin E. The present 3-week feeding study in young male rats was designed to investigate whether different concentrations of vitamin E added to a very-low-fat product (0, 330 or 1350mg dl-α-tocopheryl acetate/kg product) were absorbed. We therefore incorporated these products into a very-low-fat meal (final fat concentration: 7 g/kg) or a low-fat meal containing 52 g fat/kg. The magnitude of vitamin E absorption from these meals was compared with that from meals containing similar amounts of vitamin E, but a high fat concentration of 190 g/kg. Apparent vitamin E absorption was defined as intake of α- tocopherol equivalents (αTE) minus faecal αTE excretion over 4 d during week 3 of the experimental period. The results of this study showed that apparent absorption of vitamin E from a very-low-fat meal varied, depending on the vitamin E concentration, from 73 to 83%. The magnitude of this vitamin E absorption was not significantly different from that from meals containing a high amount of fat. Liver vitamin E status was equal in rats fed on the very-low-fat meals compared with those fed on the high- fat meals. We conclude that, when very-low-fat or low-fat products are used as a replacement for full- fat products, addition of vitamin E to these products, as dl-α-tocopheryl acetate, might be useful in meeting the vitamin E requirements.

The effect of the testosterone derivative oxymetholone alone or in combination with the H1receptor antagonist ketotifen, which has recently been shown to block tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), on weight gain and performance status in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients with chronic cachexia was evaluated in a 30 week prospective pilot study. Thirty patients were randomly assigned to either oxymetholone monotherapy (n 14) or oxymetholone plus ketotifen (n 16). Patients receiving treatment were compared with a group of thirty untreated matched controls, who met the same inclusion criteria. Body weight and the Karnofsky index, which assessesthe ability to perform activities of daily life, and several quality-of-life variables were measured to evaluate response to therapy. The average weight gain at peak was 8. 2 (SD 6. 2) kg ( + 14. 5 % of body weight at study entry) in the oxymetholone group (P<0·0.001), and 6.1 (SD 4.6) kg (+ 10.9 %) in the combination group (P<0·005), compared with an average weight loss of 1.8 (SD 0.7) kg in the untreated controls. The mean time to peak weight was 196 weeks in the monotherapy group and 20.8 weeks in the combination group. The Karnofsky index improved equally in both groups from 56% before to 67% after 20 weeks of treatment (P< 0·05). The quality of life variables (activities of daily life, and appetite/nutrition) improved in 68 % (P<0·05)and 91%(P< 0·01) of the treated patients respectively. Oxymetholone was safe and promoted weight gain in cachectic patients with advanced HIV-1 infection. The addition of ketotifendid not further support weight gain. These results suggest the need for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentre trial.