Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Children's Specialized Hospital, King Fahad Medical City; College of Medicine, Alfaisal University ; Prince Abdullah bin Khalid Celiac Disease Research Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Division of Biochemistry, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi J Gastroenterol. 2022 Mar-Apr;28(2):157-164. doi: 10.4103/sjg.sjg_298_21.
Although several studies have reported on the prevalence of micronutrients in Saudi Arabia, most frequently vitamin D and iron, they are either old or hospital- or primary health care center-based. The objectives of our study were to provide more updated data on the prevalence rate of micronutrients deficiency among the Saudi general pediatric population and to determine if there is an association between micronutrients deficiency and undernutrition.
The present study is part of a cross-sectional mass screening study, "Exploring the Iceberg of Celiacs in Saudi Arabia" conducted among school-aged children (6-16 years) in 2014-2015. A sample of 7,931 children aged 6-16 years was randomly selected. We identified thin children [body mass index (BMI) z-score <-2 SD, for age and gender], using the WHO reference 2007. A case-control study was performed, where the sera of 182 thin children (cases) and 393 normal BMI children (controls) were tested for levels of iron, ferritin, vitamin D, zinc, selenium, and copper.
The prevalence of thinness was 3.5%. The two most common micronutrients deficient among Saudi children with normal BMI were iron (20%) and vitamin D (78%). Vitamin D levels were significantly higher among boys as compared to girls (39.6 nmol/L vs. 31.15 nmol/L; P < 0.001). Deficiency of copper, zinc, and selenium occurred in 0.25%, 1%, and 7.4% of the children with normal BMI. Comparisons between the cases and controls did not show statistically significant differences.
Vitamin D and iron deficiencies are still common forms of malnutrition in the Saudi community, that have remained unchanged over the past 20-30 years, while the intake of trace elements (zinc, copper, and selenium) is adequate as evident by normal serum levels in the vast majority of the investigated children. We could not observe a correlation between undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.
尽管有几项研究报告了沙特阿拉伯微量营养素的流行情况，最常见的是维生素 D 和铁，但这些研究要么是旧的，要么是基于医院或初级医疗保健中心的。我们的研究目的是提供更更新的沙特普通儿科人群微量营养素缺乏症的患病率数据，并确定微量营养素缺乏症与营养不足之间是否存在关联。
本研究是横断面大规模筛查研究的一部分，名为“探索沙特阿拉伯乳糜泻冰山”，于 2014-2015 年在学龄儿童（6-16 岁）中进行。随机选择了 7931 名 6-16 岁的儿童。我们使用世界卫生组织 2007 年的参考标准，确定了瘦弱儿童（体重指数（BMI）z 分数 <-2 SD，适用于年龄和性别）。进行了病例对照研究，检测了 182 名瘦弱儿童（病例）和 393 名正常 BMI 儿童（对照）的血清铁、铁蛋白、维生素 D、锌、硒和铜水平。
消瘦的患病率为 3.5%。在 BMI 正常的沙特儿童中，最常见的两种微量营养素缺乏是铁（20%）和维生素 D（78%）。与女孩相比，男孩的维生素 D 水平显著更高（39.6 nmol/L 比 31.15 nmol/L；P < 0.001）。在 BMI 正常的儿童中，铜、锌和硒的缺乏发生率分别为 0.25%、1%和 7.4%。病例组和对照组之间的比较没有显示出统计学上的显著差异。
维生素 D 和铁缺乏仍然是沙特社区常见的营养不良形式，在过去的 20-30 年中没有改变，而微量元素（锌、铜和硒）的摄入是充足的，这可以从绝大多数接受调查的儿童的正常血清水平中看出。我们没有观察到营养不足和微量营养素缺乏之间的相关性。
