Home            Past Issues            About IP            About IAP           Author Information            Subscription            Advertisement              Search  

   
research letter

Indian Pediatr 2011;48: 981-982

Zinc Deficiency Amongst Adolescents in Delhi


Umesh Kapil, *GS Toteja, *Spriha Rao and
RM Pandey

From the Departments of Health Nutrition and Biostatistics, AIIMS, New Delhi;*Centre for Promotion of Nutrition Research & Training with special reference to North-East, Tribal and Inaccessible population, ICMR, New Delhi.

Correspondence to: [email protected]
 

 


A cross sectional study was conducted in 260 adolescent schoolchildren (114 males) in the age group of 11-18 years to estimate the prevalence of zinc deficiency in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Serum zinc was estimated using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Overall, 49.4% children (50.8% males, 48.2% females) were found to have a deficient zinc nutriture.

Key words: Adolescent, Children, Status, Zinc.


T
here is limited scientific data on prevalence of zinc deficiency amongst adolescent children in India. We conducted a cross-sectional study in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. All schools were listed. The Government and Municipal Corporation schools were considered to be catering to low income group (LIG) communities, Kendriya Vidyalayas schools to middle income group (MIG) communities, whereas, the private public schools with tuition fees above Rs. 1000 per month were considered to be catering to high income group (HIG) community. A total of 90 schools (30 from each of the three socio-economic groups) were selected by using the probability proportionate to size sampling methodology. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. A prior consent for the study was taken from the school administration. The parents of each student were informed about the study protocol and written consent was obtained for their child’s participation in the study. The sample size was calculated assuming the prevalence of zinc deficiency as 50 % as reported by an earlier study in Sri Lanka [1]. Confidence level of 95% and 15% relative precision (absolute 7.5%) were considered. A sample size of 180 adolescent children (11-18 years) was considered adequate for this study.

We are reporting data on prevalence of zinc deficiency amongst adolescent children from a large study [2] which documented the prevalence of obesity and associated disorders amongst adolescent children. A pre-tested, semi structured questionnaire was administered to each subject to elicit information on socio-demographic profile. Anthropometric measurements were recorded utilizing the standard equipments and methodology. Weight was recorded to nearest 100 grams using SECA electronic weighing scale. Height was recorded using the anthropometric height board to the nearest 0.1 cm. Three reading of height and weight were taken and the mean of the last two readings was considered as final. For the present study, using random number table, 260 blood serum samples were selected of children (11-18 years) covered in the above study. The samples were stored at –70 degree Celsius until analysis. Analysis of serum zinc was carried out using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (Thermofisher, X-Series 2) in the NABL accredited laboratory of ICMR. The instrument was calibrated using single element standard of zinc (ICP Grade, Merck) and samples were diluted 50 folds using 1% HNO3 (Suprapure Grade, Merck). Gallium was used as an internal standard. Further, two levels of certified reference material-Seronorm Trace element serum (Sero, Norway) was run with every batch of twenty samples to ensure the accuracy of results.

Serum zinc level <74 µg/dL for male children and < 70 µg/dL for female children above 10 years of age was considered as zinc deficiency as recommended by International Zinc Consultative Group [3]. A total of 260 children (114 males) were included in the study (mean age 14.4 years). The mean ± SD serum zinc levels were 74.0 ± 15.49 µg/dL. Overall, a total of 49.4% (95% CI: 43.0% to 55.5%) children had zinc deficiency. The deficiency amongst adolescent boys and girls was 50.8% (95% CI: 41.3% to 60.3%.) and 48.2% ( 95% CI: 39.6% to 56.3%), respectively.

Although severe zinc deficiency is rare, mild-to-moderate zinc deficiency is quite common throughout the world. Our results are comparable to earlier studies conducted in Sri Lanka [1] and Tehran [5]. A study on 187 adolescent school girls in eastern Sudan reported only 9% girls to be zinc deficient (<75 µg/mL) [6]. A review of studies published from 2002-2009 conducted amongst several developing countries documented the prevalence of zinc deficiencies in the range of 20% to 30% [7]. Studies carried out in various age groups have reported a widespread prevalence of zinc deficiency in India ranging from 50% to 75% in pregnant women [8,9] and around 40% to 75% in children [10,11]. The findings of the present study revealed a high prevalence of zinc deficiency amongst adolescent children belonging to high, middle and low economic groups in National Capital Territory of Delhi.

References

1. Hettiarachchi M, Liyanage C, Wickremasinghe R, Hilmers DC, Abrahams SA. Prevalence and severity of micronutrient deficiency: a cross-sectional study among adolescents in Sri Lanka. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2006;15:56-63.

2. Kaur S, Kapil U. Dyslipidemia amongst obese children in national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi. Indian J Pediatr.. 2011;78:55-7.

3. International Zinc Nutrition Consulatative Group (IZiNCG): Brown KH, Rivera JA, Bhutta Z, Gibson RS, King JC, Lonnerdal B, et al. Technical document 1. Assessment of the risk of zinc deficiency in populations and potions for its control. Food Nutr Bull. 2004;25op(1 Suppl2):S99-203.

4. Mahmoodi MR, Kimiagar SM. Prevalence of zinc deficiency in junior high school students of Tehran city. Biological Trace Element Research. 2001;81:93-103.

5. Abdelrahim II, Mahgoub HM, Mohamed AA, Ali NI, Elbashir MI, Adam I. Anaemia, folate, zinc and copper deficiencies among adolescent schoolgirls in eastern Sudan. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2009;132:60-6.

6. Best C, Neufingerl N, van Geel L, van den Briel T, Osendarp S. The nutritional status of school-aged children: why should we care? Food Nutr Bull. 2010;31:400-17.

7. Pathak P, Kapil U, Kapoor SK, Renu S, Kumar A, Gupta N, et al. Prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies amongst pregnant women in a rural area of Haryana : micronutrient deficient disorders. Indian J Pediatr. 2004;71:1007-14.

8. Kapil U, Pathak P, Singh P, Singh C. Zinc and magnesium nutriture amongst pregnant mothers of urban slum communities in Delhi: A pilot study. Indian Pediatr. 2002;39:365-8.

9. Kapil U, Jain K. Magnitude of zinc deficiency amongst under five children in India. Indian J Pediatr. 2011 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print]

10. Dhingra U, Hiremath G, Menon VP, Dhingra P, Sarkar A, Sazawal S. Zinc deficiency: descriptive epidemiology and morbidity among preschool children in peri-urban population in Delhi, India. J Health Popul Nutr. 2009;27:632-9.

11. Osei A, Houser R, Bulusu S, Joshi T, Hamer D. Nutritional status of primary schoolchildren in Garhwali Himalayan villages of India. Food Nutr Bull. 2010;31:221-33.
 

 

Copyright© 1999 by the Indian Pediatrics (Disclaimer)