Micronutrient deficiencies and related factors in school-aged children in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study in Libo Kemkem and Fogera districts, Amhara Regional State

The present study describes the distribution of selected micronutrients and anaemia among school-aged children living in Libo Kemkem and Fogera (Amhara State, Ethiopia), assessing differences by socio-demographic characteristics, health status and dietary habits. A cross-sectional survey was carried...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 9; no. 12; p. e112858
Main Authors:	Herrador, Zaida, Sordo, Luis, Gadisa, Endalamaw, Buño, Antonio, Gómez-Rioja, Rubén, Iturzaeta, Jose Manuel, de Armas, Lisset Fernandez, Benito, Agustín, Aseffa, Abraham, Moreno, Javier, Cañavate, Carmen, Custodio, Estefania
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 29-12-2014 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Adolescent Anemia Anemia - epidemiology Bioindicators Biology and Life Sciences Biomarkers Bivariate analysis Child Child Nutrition Disorders - epidemiology Child, Preschool Children Children & youth Cross-Sectional Studies Demographics Diet Dietary minerals Dietary supplements Epidemiology Ethiopia Female Ferritin Folic acid Folic Acid Deficiency - epidemiology Food Habits Health care Health surveys Hospitals Humans Infectious diseases Information systems Iodine Iron Male Malnutrition Meat Medicine and Health Sciences Micronutrients Micronutrients - deficiency Nutrient deficiency Nutrition Oils & fats Parasitic diseases Preventive medicine Public health Rural areas Splenomegaly Statistical methods Supplementation Tropical diseases Vitamin A Vitamin A Deficiency - epidemiology Vitamin D Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology Vitamins Zinc Zinc - deficiency Ethiopia
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The present study describes the distribution of selected micronutrients and anaemia among school-aged children living in Libo Kemkem and Fogera (Amhara State, Ethiopia), assessing differences by socio-demographic characteristics, health status and dietary habits. A cross-sectional survey was carried out during May-December 2009. Socio-demographic characteristics, health status and dietary habits were collected. Biomarkers were determined for 764 children. Bivariate and multivariable statistical methods were employed to assess micronutrient deficiencies (MD), anaemia, and their association with different factors. More than two thirds of the school-aged children (79.5%) had at least one MD and 40.5% had two or more coexisting micronutrient deficiencies. The most prevalent deficiencies were of zinc (12.5%), folate (13.9%), vit A (29.3%) and vit D (49%). Anaemia occurred in 30.9% of the children. Children living in rural areas were more likely to have vit D insufficiency [OR: 5.9 (3.7-9.5)] but less likely to have folate deficiency [OR: 0.2 (0.1-0.4)] and anaemia [OR: 0.58 (0.35-0.97)]. Splenomegaly was positively associated with folate deficiency and anaemia [OR: 2.77 (1.19-6.48) and 4.91 (2.47-9.75)]. Meat and fish consumption were inversely correlated with zinc and ferritin deficiencies [OR: 0.2 (0.1-0.8) and 0.2 (0.1-0.9)], while oil consumption showed a negative association with anaemia and deficiencies of folate and vitamin A [0.58 (0.3-0.9), OR: 0.5 (0.3-0.9) and 0.6 (0.4-0.9)]. Serum ferritin levels were inversely correlated to the presence of anaemia (p<0.005). There is a high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency and vitamin D insufficiency and a moderate prevalence of zinc and folate deficiencies in school-aged children in this area. The inverse association of anaemia and serum ferritin levels may be due to the presence of infectious diseases in the area. To effectively tackle malnutrition, strategies should target not only isolated micronutrient supplementation but also diet diversification.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared no competing interests exist. Conceived and designed the experiments EC LS ZH AA EG CC A. Benito A. Buño RGR JMI JM LFdA. Performed the experiments: EC LS AA LFdA EG CC A. Buño RGR JMI JM. Analyzed the data: EC LS ZH LFdA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AA CC A. Benito A. Buño RGR JMI JM. Wrote the paper: ZH LS EC. Review of the manuscript: CC JM JMI RGR AA A. Buño A. Benito EG.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0112858