Why Do Children in Slums Suffer from Anemia, Iron, Zinc, and Vitamin A Deficiency? Results from a Birth Cohort Study in Dhaka

A Scoping Review of Nutritional Biomarkers Associated with Food Security

Food insecurity affects more than 40 million individuals in the United States and is linked to negative health outcomes due, in part, to poor dietary quality. Despite the emergence of metabolomics as a modality to objectively characterize nutritional biomarkers, it is unclear whether food security is associated with any biomarkers of dietary quality. This scoping review aims to summarize studies that examined associations between nutritional biomarkers and food security, as well as studies that investigated metabolomic differences between people with and without food insecurity. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and AGRICOLA were searched through August 2022 for studies describing food insecurity and metabolic markers in blood, urine, plasma, hair, or nails. The 78 studies included consisted of targeted assays quantifying lipids, dietary nutrients, heavy metals, and environmental xenobiotics as biochemical features associated with food insecurity. Among those biomarkers which were quantified in at least five studies, none showed a consistent association with food insecurity. Although three biomarkers of dietary quality have been assessed between food-insecure versus food-secure populations, no studies have utilized untargeted metabolomics to characterize patterns of small molecules that distinguish between these two populations. Further studies are needed to characterize the dietary quality profiles of individuals with and without food insecurity.

Prevalence of Anemia among Children and Adolescents of Bangladesh: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The prevalence of anemia is high among children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries because of undernutrition resulting from their poor socioeconomic status and lack of knowledge on proper nutrition. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of anemia among children and adolescents aged between 6 months and 19 years in Bangladesh. Databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched to identify the studies that reported the prevalence of anemia among children and adolescents. A total of 24 studies, including the data of 14,062 cases, were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis of the time period between 1997 and 2019. The random-effects model was used to calculate the summary estimates. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021246960). The pooled prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency anemia (IDA), and non-severe and severe anemia were 46.8% [95% CI: 36.0-57.6], 13.6% [95% CI: 8.0-19.2], 56.4% [95% CI: 39.6-73.1] and 0.7% [95% CI: 0.1-1.4], respectively. Prevalence of anemia exhibited the highest among the children aged ≤2 years. Briefly, 91.67% of the studies were of high quality. No significant publication bias was found; however, two outlier studies were detected. The prevalence of anemia among children and adolescents was estimated as high in Bangladesh.

Malnutrition, anemia, micronutrient deficiency and parasitic infections among schoolchildren in rural Tanzania

Background

Malnutrition, anemia, micronutrient deficiency and parasitic infections continue to impact the nutritional status and health of children in lower-income countries. However, not enough data concerning this issue is available. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of nutritional indicators, anemia and micronutrient deficiency and their underlying risk factors among schoolchildren in south-eastern Tanzania.

Methodology/Principal findings

This cross-sectional study enrolled primary schoolchildren aged 6–12 years from Kikwawila and Kiberege wards, Tanzania. In total, 471 schoolchildren underwent a physical examination and provided blood, stool and urine samples for an assessment of the levels of different micronutrients, nutritional and anemia status, and parasitic infection status. We employed bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to determine the association between nutritional statuses, anemia, micronutrient deficiency and parasitic infections. We found that 23.90%, 12.60% and 16.20% of schoolchildren were stunted, underweight and wasted, respectively. About 14.0% of schoolchildren were found to be anemic. Children diagnosed with Plasmodium falciparum infection were more likely to have low levels of ferritin (aOR: 10.40, 95% CI: 2.88-40.53) and elevated levels of serum soluble transferrin receptor (aOR: 3.59, 95% CI: 1.27-11.23), respectively. Vitamin A (34.71%) and vitamin B12 (8.79%) were the most prevalent micronutrients found to be deficient in diagnosed children. Finally, we found that schoolchildren attending the most rural schools were five times more likely to be diagnosed with at least one micronutrient deficiency (aOR: 5.04, 95% CI: 2.38–11.44).

Conclusions/Significance

Malnutrition, anemia and micronutrient deficiency still pose a significant health burden among schoolchildren living in rural Tanzania. To effectively tackle this burden, health interventions such as deworming, micronutrient supplementation, vector control, health education and access to clean water and improved sanitation should be strengthened and made sustainable.

In this study, we assessed the distribution and risk factors of nutritional indicators, anemia and micronutrient deficiency among schoolchildren of the Kikwawila and Kiberege wards, Tanzania. Our analysis revealed that malnutrition in form of stunting and wasting is still very high among schoolchildren in this region. About 14.0% of children were found to be anemic. Micronutrient deficiency was highly variable ranging from 0.50% (Folate) to 35.0% (Vitamin A). Schoolchildren from most rural schools were more likely to be found stunted and deficient with at least one type of micronutrient. Efforts to control and eliminate malnutrition, anemia, micronutrient deficiency and parasitic infections would benefit from sustainable and integrated approaches such as deworming, micronutrient supplementation, health education, vector control and an improvement in access to clean water and improved sanitation.

Association of vitamin A with anemia and serum hepcidin levels in children aged 6 to 59 mo

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluates the association of serum retinol, hepcidin levels, and anemia in children.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 312 children, ages 6 to 59 mo, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The association between hepcidin and retinol levels, hematologic parameters, and body mass index (BMI) was analyzed using a generalized linear model with and without adjustment for C-reactive protein (CRP) level. Logistic regression analysis was used to test anemia as an outcome and serum retinol level as a predictive variable using the odds ratio (OR) function.

RESULTS

Anemia was present in 14.6% of the children, 5.8% presented iron deficiency anemia, and 9.6% had vitamin A deficiency. The increase in serum retinol levels reduced the chances of anemia (OR = 0.13; confidence interval = 0.29-0.59). When CRP level was not adjusted for in the multiple regression analyses, retinol, ferritin levels, and BMI/age were predictors of serum hepcidin levels (β = -3.36, 0.14, 1.02, respectively; P = 0.032). Accordingly, serum retinol levels were inversely associated with CRP levels (β = -0.025 and P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The association between serum retinol and hepcidin levels in children ages 6 to 59 mo seems to be dependent on inflammation. Taken together, the results reinforce the need for the development of further studies to better understand the relationship between vitamin A and anemia of inflammation.

Breastfeeding practices after a counselling intervention for factory workers in Bangladesh

Breastfeeding may be particularly challenging for female factory workers who have long working hours and inadequate access to health information and care. In Chattogram, Bangladesh, a peer counselling intervention was undertaken to improve infant feeding practices of factory workers. Counselling started during pregnancy and continued until children were 18 months old. This article presents the results of a cross‐sectional survey undertaken during 2 weeks in March–April 2017, after the project's conclusion. The aim was to compare breastfeeding practices, specifically early breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), among factory workers who had received peer counselling in the intervention areas (IA) with those of non‐counselled factory workers in the nearby comparison areas (CA). Six female interviewers, trained over 3 days, conducted interviews at the workers' homes. Data were analysed to assess the association of peer counselling with infant feeding practices. Factory workers (N = 382) with infants between 0 and 18 months of age participated in the survey, in IA (n = 188) and in CA (n = 194). Although there were more health facility deliveries among the CA workers, only 43 (22%) of those workers had initiated breastfeeding within 1 h of birth versus 166 (88%) of the IA workers (p < .001). EBF prevalence on 24‐h recall in infants aged 0–6 months was only 7/83 (8%) for the CA workers versus 73/75 (97%) for IA workers (p < .001). The survey showed that breastfeeding practices of factory workers in the IA after the intervention were significantly better than those of factory workers in the CA.