Department of Pediatrics, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Porur, Chennai 600116, India.
J Trop Pediatr. 2021 Jan 29;67(1). doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmaa114.
Vitamin B12 is not synthesized in the body and its only dietary sources are non-vegetarian. The breast milk of mothers in resource poor countries who are on predominantly vegetarian diets is deficient in vitamin B12. Hence exclusive breast feeding (EBF) may result in B12 deficiency in the infant, which can affect the neurodevelopmental outcome. Our aim was to study the serum vitamin B12 levels among EBF infants and identify the risk factors for B12 deficiency.
This cross-sectional study was done among EBF, term, otherwise healthy infants, 1-6 month of age in the well-baby clinic .The sociodemographic data of mother and the infants' anthropometric measurements were noted and blood samples were sent for complete blood count and serum vitamin B12 levels. The data were analysed using SPSS software version 16.
We enrolled 149 EBF infants, aged 1-6 months and the mean age was 3.1 (±1.03) months. The mean serum vitamin B12 level was 199.91 (±112.523) pg/ml. Low serum vitamin B12 levels (<200 pg/ml) was seen in 95 (63.7%) infants. On multivariate analysis, there were no other significant risk factors for B12 deficiency in the infants.
The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among EBF infants is 63.7%. Because of its importance in neurological development during infancy, there is an urgent need to address this issue while promoting exclusive breast feeding.
维生素 B12 无法在体内合成，其唯一的膳食来源是非素食。资源匮乏国家的母亲以素食为主，其母乳中维生素 B12 含量不足。因此，纯母乳喂养（EBF）可能导致婴儿维生素 B12 缺乏，从而影响神经发育结果。我们的目的是研究 EBF 婴儿的血清维生素 B12 水平，并确定维生素 B12 缺乏的危险因素。
这是一项横断面研究，在健康的足月 EBF 婴儿 1-6 月龄的门诊中进行。记录母亲的社会人口学数据和婴儿的人体测量学指标，并采集血样进行全血细胞计数和血清维生素 B12 水平检测。使用 SPSS 软件版本 16 对数据进行分析。
我们纳入了 149 名 1-6 月龄的 EBF 婴儿，平均年龄为 3.1（±1.03）个月。平均血清维生素 B12 水平为 199.91（±112.523）pg/ml。95 名（63.7%）婴儿的血清维生素 B12 水平较低（<200 pg/ml）。多因素分析显示，婴儿维生素 B12 缺乏无其他显著危险因素。
EBF 婴儿维生素 B12 缺乏的患病率为 63.7%。由于其在婴儿期神经发育中的重要性，在推广纯母乳喂养的同时，迫切需要解决这一问题。
