Associations of dietary anthocyanidins intake with body composition in Chinese children: a cross-sectional study

Background: Previous animal and in vitro studies indicated that anthocyanidins might contribute to the prevention of obesity, while epidemiological evidences were scarce and had not been conducted in children.

Objective: We explored the associations between anthocyanidins and body composition in children.

Design: A cross-sectional study involving 452 children aged 6-9 years in Guangzhou, China, was carried out. Dietary information was collected using a 79-items food frequency questionnaire. Fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and fat mass percentage (FMP) at multi-sites (whole body, trunk, limbs, android area, and gynoid area) were measured using a dual-energy X-ray scan. Abdominal obesity was defined as an age- and sex-specific abdominal FM ≥ 85th percentile. Handgrip strength was measured using a hydraulic hand dynamometer.

Results: After adjusted for several potential covariates, higher dietary intake of anthocyanidin (per one standard deviation increase) was associated with a 0.013-0.223 kg increase of LM, a 0.024-0.134 kg decrease of FM, and a 0.63-0.76% decrease of FMP at multi-sites (P < 0.05). Results were similar and more pronounced for delphinidin and cyanidin, but less significant for peonidin. Higher dietary anthocyanidin intake (per standard deviation increase) was associated with a 41.0% (OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.37, 0.94) decreased risk of abdominal obesity. However, no significant associations were observed between anthocyanidin and handgrip strengths.

Conclusions: Higher dietary intake of anthocyanidin and its components tended to be associated with better body composition, but not handgrip strength, in Chinese children at early age.