Objectives: To assess beef intake and its relationship with nutrient intake and adequacy in pregnant/lactating women.
Methods: Two days of 24-h dietary recall data from 319 pregnant/lactating women participants of NHANES 2011-2018 were used to assess beef and nutrient intake. Usual intakes (not including dietary supplements) were estimated using the National Cancer Institute method and % population with intakes < Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), or > Adequate Intake (AI) for each nutrient was determined.
Results: Overall, a high % of pregnant/lactating women had intakes < EAR for vitamin D (94%), vitamin E (82%), vitamin C (52%) and vitamin A (50%), magnesium (35%), folate (31%), zinc (25%), vitamin B6 (22%), calcium (12%) and copper (12%). Additionally, only about 4% and 35% of pregnant/lactating women met AI for choline and potassium, respectively. Almost all pregnant/lactating women had intakes > AI for sodium.
About 67% of pregnant/lactating women were beef consumers consuming 49 g beef/day. Beef consumers had higher intakes (P < 0.05) of energy (17%), protein (21%), calcium (17%), iron (21%), phosphorus (11%), selenium (19%), sodium (28%), zinc (41%), thiamin (25%), riboflavin (16%) and niacin (25%) than non-consumers. A lower % of beef consumers (P < 0.05) had intakes < EAR for protein (20% units), calcium (28% units), iron (9% unit), zinc (59% units), thiamin (23% units), riboflavin (14% units), niacin (9% units), vitamin B6 (20% units) and vitamin B12 (22% units) than non-consumers. However, a higher proportion (16% units, P< 0.05) of beef consumers than non-consumers were < EAR for vitamin D.
About 59, 42, 23% of pregnant/lactating women were fresh, ground and processed beef consumers, respectively, consuming 50, 39 and 16 g beef/day, respectively. A lower % of consumers of different beef types (P < 0.05) had intakes < EAR for calcium (20-27% units), iron (6-7% units), zinc (35-52% units), thiamin (9-16% units), and vitamin B12 (8-14% units) than their respective non-consumers. Depending on beef type, consumers also had higher adequacies (P < 0.05) for certain other nutrients.
Conclusions: Pregnant/lactating women generally have poor nutrient adequacy from foods and beverages. Beef consumers had higher intakes and adequacy for certain key nutrients and many of which are inherently available in beef or in foods eaten with beef.
