Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: In 2012, the Mexican National Health Survey (ENSANUT 2012) showed a moderate prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency, around 16%, in a national representative sample of children. A decreasing prevalence of anemia during the last 15 years has been observed in Mexico. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of vitamin D in children 3-8 years old in four different locations within the metropolitan area of Mexico City and to compare them to levels of iron and zinc as references of nutritional status. Methods: One hundred and seventeen healthy children aged 3-8 years attending four hospitals in Mexico City were invited to participate. All children received medical and nutritional evaluation, and blood samples were obtained. Results: Children were selected in four hospitals between April and August 2008. More than half (51.3%) were boys; their average age was 5.5 ± 1.6 years. The prevalence of subjects with deficient levels of 25-OH-vitamin D (< 50 nmol/L) was 24.77%. None of the children had haemoglobin levels below the anaemia threshold, and zinc determination revealed 8.26% of individuals with deficient levels (< 65 &#956;g/dL). These data confirm the findings reported in ENSANUT about the sustained reduction of anaemia prevalence among preschool and schoolchildren and the rising rates of vitamin D deficiency in the same population. Similar to other studies, we found a link between socioeconomic status and micronutrient deficiency, these being markers of better nutrition, and vitamin D is remarkably related to the quality of the diet. This finding has not been considered in our population before. Conclusions: There is evidence of a sustained decrease of anaemia in Mexican children due to general enrichment of foods and focus on vulnerable populations, while vitamin D deficiency seems to have increased. More studies are needed to obtain more information on vitamin D levels at different ages and definition of susceptible groups in order to investigate the possibility of general population measures such as enrichment, which have proven to be effective.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Toussaint-Martínez de Castro,Georgina, Guagnelli,Miguel Ángel, Clark,Patricia, Méndez-Sánchez,Lucía, López-González,Desireé, Galán-Herrera,Juan-Francisco, Sánchez-Ruiz,Martín
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Grupo Arán 2016
Online Access:http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0212-16112016000400006
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id oai:scielo:S0212-16112016000400006
record_format ojs
spelling oai:scielo:S0212-161120160004000062016-09-20Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional studyToussaint-Martínez de Castro,GeorginaGuagnelli,Miguel ÁngelClark,PatriciaMéndez-Sánchez,LucíaLópez-González,DesireéGalán-Herrera,Juan-FranciscoSánchez-Ruiz,Martín Vitamin D Iron Deficiency Children Anaemia Introduction: In 2012, the Mexican National Health Survey (ENSANUT 2012) showed a moderate prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency, around 16%, in a national representative sample of children. A decreasing prevalence of anemia during the last 15 years has been observed in Mexico. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of vitamin D in children 3-8 years old in four different locations within the metropolitan area of Mexico City and to compare them to levels of iron and zinc as references of nutritional status. Methods: One hundred and seventeen healthy children aged 3-8 years attending four hospitals in Mexico City were invited to participate. All children received medical and nutritional evaluation, and blood samples were obtained. Results: Children were selected in four hospitals between April and August 2008. More than half (51.3%) were boys; their average age was 5.5 ± 1.6 years. The prevalence of subjects with deficient levels of 25-OH-vitamin D (< 50 nmol/L) was 24.77%. None of the children had haemoglobin levels below the anaemia threshold, and zinc determination revealed 8.26% of individuals with deficient levels (< 65 &#956;g/dL). These data confirm the findings reported in ENSANUT about the sustained reduction of anaemia prevalence among preschool and schoolchildren and the rising rates of vitamin D deficiency in the same population. Similar to other studies, we found a link between socioeconomic status and micronutrient deficiency, these being markers of better nutrition, and vitamin D is remarkably related to the quality of the diet. This finding has not been considered in our population before. Conclusions: There is evidence of a sustained decrease of anaemia in Mexican children due to general enrichment of foods and focus on vulnerable populations, while vitamin D deficiency seems to have increased. More studies are needed to obtain more information on vitamin D levels at different ages and definition of susceptible groups in order to investigate the possibility of general population measures such as enrichment, which have proven to be effective.Grupo AránNutrición Hospitalaria v.33 n.4 20162016-08-01journal articletext/htmlhttp://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0212-16112016000400006en
institution SCIELO
collection OJS
country España
countrycode ES
component Revista
access En linea
databasecode rev-scielo-es
tag revista
region Europa del Sur
libraryname SciELO
language English
format Digital
author Toussaint-Martínez de Castro,Georgina
Guagnelli,Miguel Ángel
Clark,Patricia
Méndez-Sánchez,Lucía
López-González,Desireé
Galán-Herrera,Juan-Francisco
Sánchez-Ruiz,Martín
spellingShingle Toussaint-Martínez de Castro,Georgina
Guagnelli,Miguel Ángel
Clark,Patricia
Méndez-Sánchez,Lucía
López-González,Desireé
Galán-Herrera,Juan-Francisco
Sánchez-Ruiz,Martín
Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
author_facet Toussaint-Martínez de Castro,Georgina
Guagnelli,Miguel Ángel
Clark,Patricia
Méndez-Sánchez,Lucía
López-González,Desireé
Galán-Herrera,Juan-Francisco
Sánchez-Ruiz,Martín
author_sort Toussaint-Martínez de Castro,Georgina
title Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
title_short Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
title_full Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Vitamin D, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in Mexico City: a cross-sectional study
title_sort vitamin d, not iron, is the main nutrient deficiency in pre-school and school-aged children in mexico city: a cross-sectional study
description Introduction: In 2012, the Mexican National Health Survey (ENSANUT 2012) showed a moderate prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency, around 16%, in a national representative sample of children. A decreasing prevalence of anemia during the last 15 years has been observed in Mexico. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of vitamin D in children 3-8 years old in four different locations within the metropolitan area of Mexico City and to compare them to levels of iron and zinc as references of nutritional status. Methods: One hundred and seventeen healthy children aged 3-8 years attending four hospitals in Mexico City were invited to participate. All children received medical and nutritional evaluation, and blood samples were obtained. Results: Children were selected in four hospitals between April and August 2008. More than half (51.3%) were boys; their average age was 5.5 ± 1.6 years. The prevalence of subjects with deficient levels of 25-OH-vitamin D (< 50 nmol/L) was 24.77%. None of the children had haemoglobin levels below the anaemia threshold, and zinc determination revealed 8.26% of individuals with deficient levels (< 65 &#956;g/dL). These data confirm the findings reported in ENSANUT about the sustained reduction of anaemia prevalence among preschool and schoolchildren and the rising rates of vitamin D deficiency in the same population. Similar to other studies, we found a link between socioeconomic status and micronutrient deficiency, these being markers of better nutrition, and vitamin D is remarkably related to the quality of the diet. This finding has not been considered in our population before. Conclusions: There is evidence of a sustained decrease of anaemia in Mexican children due to general enrichment of foods and focus on vulnerable populations, while vitamin D deficiency seems to have increased. More studies are needed to obtain more information on vitamin D levels at different ages and definition of susceptible groups in order to investigate the possibility of general population measures such as enrichment, which have proven to be effective.
publisher Grupo Arán
publishDate 2016
url http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0212-16112016000400006
work_keys_str_mv AT toussaintmartinezdecastrogeorgina vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT guagnellimiguelangel vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT clarkpatricia vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT mendezsanchezlucia vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT lopezgonzalezdesiree vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT galanherrerajuanfrancisco vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
AT sanchezruizmartin vitamindnotironisthemainnutrientdeficiencyinpreschoolandschoolagedchildreninmexicocityacrosssectionalstudy
_version_ 1755936922598899712