Objective   To investigate the fractio nal absorption and bio-utilization of iron and calcium in rural children under the representative diets model and to know the dietary effects of factors ontheirabsorption.

  Methods   The 10 volunteers, aged 4~6 years, were from Shandong rural region.Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer(AAS)was used to detect total iron and calcium and then to estimate iron and calcium fractional absorption.Meanwhile, the daily int akes of factors influencing the iron and calcium fractional absor ption, such as protein, fat, vitamin C(VC), phytic acid and cellulose, were measured by traditional chemical analysis.Furthermore, the mean daily intakes were calculated and compared with Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNI).

  Results   The metabolism balance absorption rate of total Fe, Ca were 61.0%, 53.09% respectively, in rural children.The mean daily iron intake was 11.80 mg, which was lower than that of RNI.The mean daily calcium intake was 295.40 mg, which was lower than that of RNI.The intakes of protein and VC were 31.2 g and 13.3 mg, accounting for only 56.73% and 29.60% of RNI respectively.Whereas, the intakes of fat, phytic acid and cellulose were relatively high.

  Conclusion   The iron fractional absorption is low under the representative recipe with the daily low intakes of protein and VC and high intakes of phytic acid and cellulose in Shandong rural region.