title: Is there an association between the nutritional status of the mother and that of her 2-year-old to 5-year-old child?
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between the nutritional status of the mother and that of her 2-year-old to 5-year-old child in a rural village in South Africa where there is a high prevalence of childhood malnutrition (in particular, deficiencies of vitamin A and iron) and of maternal obesity. A blood sample and anthropometric measurements were obtained for 118 child-mother pairs. There was a positive mother-child correlation for serum ferritin (R=0.2304, P<0.05) and haemoglobin (R=0.2664, P<0.01) concentrations, respectively. The child of an anaemic mother had a relative risk of 1.632 of also being anaemic. There was no mother-child association for either serum retinol concentration or anthropometric measurements. Serum retinol concentrations showed a positive correlation with both serum ferritin (mothers only; R=0.2161, P<0.01) and haemoglobin (R=0.2807, P<0.01 for mothers; and R=0.2710, P < 0.01 for children) concentrations. The mother-child association for iron status is probably because of an inadequate dietary intake and low bioavailability of dietary iron, which are major causes of iron deficiency. The lack of mother-child association for serum retinol concentration could probably be ascribed to the fact that children are more susceptible to vitamin A deficiency than adults because of childhood diseases.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Intervention Research Unit of the Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa. mieke.faber@mrc.ac.za
authors.forename: Mieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swanevelder
authors.forename: A J Spinnler
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Benadé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D014801:Vitamin A; D005293:Ferritins