Hygiena 2014, 59(2):64-70 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1255

Standard Intake and Dietary Sources of Selenium in the Czech Population

Zlata Kapounová, Jitka Blahová, Marcela Dofková, Jiří Ruprich, Irena Řehůřková

Státní zdravotní ústav, Centrum zdraví, výživy a potravin, Praha

Selenium is an essential element and component of many enzymes in the human organism. Deficiency can affect the function of virtually all tissues. The main objective of this article is to present the distribution of usual selenium intake in the Czech population, to compare the obtained values with available dietary recommendations and to determine the most important dietary sources of selenium. For this purpose current analytical data (2010/2011) on the selenium content in foodstuffs from the project of Environmental health monitoring in the Czech Republic and data on food consumption originated from the national survey SISP 04 (Study of individual food consumption) were used. SISP 04 was carried out between 2003-2004 on a representative sample of the Czech population (2,590 men and women aged 4-90 years). Actual intake of selenium was calculated for each subject in the sample and subsequently usual intake distributions were estimated in defined population subgroups. The results indicated that selenium intake appears to be sufficient in groups of children (4-14 years) and young and adult men (15-59 years). Population groups with increased risk of low selenium intake were identified as teenage girls (15-17 years), adult women (≥18 years) and elderly men (60 years and over). Approximately 60% of teenage girls and 75% of adult women did not meet the intake recommendations for selenium. Dietary sources of selenium varied depending on age and gender, but generally animal sources prevailed, accounting for approximately 70% of the total intake. Higher consumption of fish and fish products, as a rich source of selenium, can be recommended to increase selenium intake from natural sources, especially when its consumption in our population is still very low.

Keywords: selenium, dietary exposure, Czech Republic

Received: July 2013; Accepted: December 20, 2013; Published: June 1, 2014  Show citation