Are vitamin A and iron deficiencies re-emerging in urban Latin America? A survey of schoolchildren in Bogota, Colombia.
BACKGROUND
In Latin America, the burden of vitamin A and iron deficiencies has been documented primarily in preschool-age children. There are few recent reports on the vitamin A and iron status of school-age children.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of vitamin A and iron deficiencies in Colombian schoolchildren.


METHODS
We examined plasma retinol and ferritin concentrations in relation to socioeconomic and anthropometric factors in a representative sample of 2811 low- and middle-income children 5 to 12 years of age in Bogotá, Colombia.


RESULTS
The prevalence rates of deficiencies of vitamin A (plasma retinol < 0.70 micromol/L) and iron (plasma ferritin <15 microg/L) were 14% and 3%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, plasma retinol concentrations were positively associated with child's age and household's socioeconomic stratum, whereas ferritin concentrations were positively related to child's age, number of home assets, and having a nonsingle mother. Ferritin concentrations were much lower among girls than boys in the 11- and 12-year-old age group, whereas there were only small positive differences between girls and boys in younger children (p for interaction < .0001). Both vitamin A and iron deficiencies were independently associated with lower z-scores for body-mass-index-for-age, after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and C-reactive protein concentrations. Neither vitamin A nor iron status was related to height-for-age.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence rates of vitamin A and iron deficiencies among schoolchildren from Bogotd, Colombia, are not negligible. Both vitamin A and iron status are positively associated with socioeconomic status and anthropometric indices. The effect of improving vitamin A and iron status on physical growth and other functional outcomes needs to be further examined in this age group.
Maslova
Ekaterina
E
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Mora-Plazas
Mercedes
M
Forero
Yibby
Y
López-Arana
Sandra
S
Baylin
Ana
A
Villamor
Eduardo
E
D000367:Age Factors; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
D014801:Vitamin A; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron