Vitamin B-6 inadequacy is prevalent in rural and urban Indonesian children.
The vitamin B-6 status of Indonesian children was evaluated by determining their dietary vitamin B-6 intakes, erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activity coefficients and plasma pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) concentrations. Thirty-eight third-grade elementary school children (ages = 8-9 y) in rural and 39 in urban areas of Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, voluntarily served as subjects. The subjects included 39 male and 38 female students. The mean vitamin B-6 intake of the subjects was 0.57 mg/d. Fifty-five percentage of the children reported consuming <0.5 mg/d of vitamin B-6 (the 1998 Estimated Average Requirement for those 4-8 y). Erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase activity coefficients >/= 1.25 were observed in 30%, and plasma PLP concentrations </= 30 nmol/L were observed in 25%; these values are considered indicative of vitamin B-6 inadequacy. Similar percentages of male and female subjects had inadequate vitamin B-6 status. Significantly more (P < 0.05) rural children than urban had inadequate vitamin B-6 status as assessed by the three indices. Vitamin B-6 inadequacy was found to be prevalent among these Indonesian children, especially those living in rural areas.
Setiawan
B
B
Department of Nutritional Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Giraud
D W
DW
Driskell
J A
JA
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate / Q000097:blood; D011736:Pyridoxine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D026681:Vitamin B 6 Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology*
D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D011736:Pyridoxine