Assessment of Total Choline Intakes in the United States.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional population survey analysis
PubMed 26886842 · doi:10.1080/07315724.2015.1080127
What was done
Usual dietary choline intakes from foods were evaluated using the National Cancer Institute method applied to 2009–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 16,809 US residents aged ≥ 2 years. Intakes were compared against the established Dietary Reference Intake Adequate Intake (AI) thresholds.
What was found
Only 10.8 ± 0.6% of participants aged ≥ 2 years achieved the AI for choline (15.6 ± 0.8% of males and 6.1 ± 0.6% of females). The proportion meeting or exceeding the AI decreased markedly with age: 62.9 ± 3.1% in children aged 2–3 years, 45.4 ± 1.6% in children aged 4–8 years, 9.0 ± 1.0% in children aged 9–13 years, 1.8 ± 0.4% in adolescents aged 14–18 years, and 6.6 ± 0.5% in adults aged ≥ 19 years. Across all age groups, males consumed significantly more choline than females.
Why it matters
This study shows that suboptimal dietary choline intake is widespread across most age groups in the US population, especially among adolescents and adults, highlighting a substantial gap between actual consumption and nutritional recommendations.
Limits
The study is observational and cross-sectional, relying on self-reported dietary intake data subject to recall error and reporting bias. Intakes were assessed from foods only without accounting for dietary supplements, and no biochemical markers of choline status or related health outcomes were measured.
Cited by
- supports Approximately 90% of people do not consume enough choline, 75% do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids, and 70% do not get enough protein.