Resumen de Nutritional status of iron in children from 6 to 59 months of age and its relation to vitamin A deficiency

Marcia Cristina Sales, A. A. Paiva, Daiane de Queiroz, Renata Araújo França Costa, Maria Auxiliadora Lins da Cunha, Dixis Figueroa Pedraza

• Objective:

  To evaluate the iron nutritional status of children from 6 to 59 months of age and its relation to vitamin A deficiency.

  Method:

  Cross-sectional study involving 100 children, living in nine cities in the state of Paraíba, which were selected for convenience to form two study groups: children with vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol < 0.70 ?mol/L; n = 50) and children without vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol ?0.70 ?mol/L; n = 50). The iron nutritional status was evaluated by biochemical, hematological and hematimetric indices. The cases of subclinical infection (C-Reactive Protein ? 6 mg/L) were excluded.

  Results:

  Children with vitamin A deficiency had serum iron values statistically lower than the corresponding values in children without deficiency. The other iron nutritional status indices showed no statistical difference according to presence/absence of vitamin A deficiency.

  Conclusion:

  The interaction between iron and vitamin A deficiencies was evidenced in the case of circulating iron deficiency (serum iron), suggesting failure in the transport mechanisms of the mineral in children with vitamin A deficiency.