title: Trends in Iron, Zinc, and Vitamin A Status Biomarkers Among Colombian Children: Results From 2 Nationally Representative Surveys.
abstract: Micronutrient deficiencies are still highly prevalent in countries undergoing the nutrition transition, but nationally representative data documenting their burden in children are exceedingly rare.
  
  
  
  To examine the distribution and recent trends in micronutrient status biomarkers of Colombian children.
  
  
  
  We compared the distributions of plasma ferritin, serum zinc, and vitamin A in Colombian children between 2005 and 2010 using 2 cross-sectional, nationally representative surveys overall and by categories of sociodemographic variables. Analysis for ferritin included boys and nonpregnant girls aged 1 to 17 years. Analyses for zinc and vitamin A included children aged 1 to 4 years.
  
  
  
  The mean 2010 to 2005 differences in ferritin, zinc, and vitamin A were 2.5 µg/L (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3 to 3.7), -34.9 µg/dL (95% CI: -39.6 to -30.2), and -11.5 µg/dL (95% CI: -12.3 to -10.7), respectively, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. These differences varied significantly by region of residence. In 2010, region of residence was a significant correlate for all 3 micronutrients. Other important correlates included age and maternal education for ferritin and body mass index-for-age Z score, maternal education, wealth index, food insecurity, and urbanicity for vitamin A.
  
  
  
  Plasma ferritin was slightly higher in 2010 than in 2005, whereas serum zinc and vitamin A were substantially lower in 2010. In the absence of obvious causal explanations, it is uncertain whether this decline represents a worsening of micronutrient status in Colombian children or an artifact due to systematic laboratory or data management errors incurred in the surveys.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Wenchao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 2 Faculty of Health, Industrial University of Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
authors.forename: Oscar F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Herrán
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villamor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000208:ethnology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014801:Vitamin A; D005293:Ferritins; D015032:Zinc
keywords: Colombia; children; iron; mean difference; representative survey; vitamin A; zinc