Relationship between Dietary Creatine and Growth Indicators in Children and Adolescents Aged 2-19 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional analysis of survey data (NHANES 2001-2002)
PubMed 33806719 · doi:10.3390/nu13031027
What was done
Analyzed cross-sectional data from 4,291 U.S. children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years (2,133 boys and 2,158 girls) from the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Individual daily dietary creatine intake was calculated by applying a fixed average creatine content (3.88 g/kg) across all meat-based foods. Growth indicators, including standing height, weight, BMI, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age categories, were compared across quartiles of creatine intake.
What was found
Average daily creatine intake was 1.07 ± 1.07 g (95% CI: 1.04 to 1.10). Height, weight, and BMI were significantly higher in the 4th quartile of creatine intake (≥1.5 g/day) compared to lower quartiles (p < 0.05). Participants in the 3rd quartile (0.84-1.49 g/day) had significantly lower rates of normal stature and higher rates of tall stature (p < 0.05). Each additional 0.1 g of creatine consumed per day was associated with an increase in height of 0.60 cm in a simple model and 0.30 cm in an adjusted model.
Why it matters
Provides epidemiological estimates of daily dietary creatine intake in U.S. youth and shows a positive association between meat-derived creatine consumption and linear growth indicators.
Limits
The cross-sectional design prevents establishing causality or temporal sequence. Creatine intake was not measured directly but estimated from self-reported dietary recalls using a single uniform conversion factor across all meats, and residual confounding from total protein or calorie intake cannot be excluded.