Thankachan Prashanth, Selvam Sumithra, Narendra Agnita R, Mishra Hari N, Sachdev Harshpal S, Thomas Tinku, Kurpad Anura V
Division of Nutrition, St John's Research Institute, Bengaluru, India.
Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2022 Jul 5;5(2):364-366. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000358. eCollection 2022 Dec.
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020 resulted in school closures with eventual suspension of the mid-day meal programme, biannual deworming and iron-folic acid supplements. One year into the lockdown, we evaluated the impact of the withdrawal of these programmes on the nutritional status of rural primary-school children, aged 6-12 years, in Karnataka, India.
Anthropometry, haemoglobin, serum ferritin and C reactive protein were measured in 290 children at two time points, 1 year apart, starting from just before the lockdown (February 2020 to February 2021).
The prevalence of anaemia doubled from 21% to 40% (p<0.0001) with more pronounced changes in older girls (10%-53%); however, the prevalence of iron deficiency did not change (48.8%-51.9%), despite cessation of deworming and iron/folic acid supplements.
The increase in anaemia was due to limiting intakes of other erythropoietic nutrients, possibly due to a lower dietary diversity. The mid-day lunch meal at school (MDM) is an important part of daily food intake in rural school children, and it is important to maintain dietary diversity through the delivery of MDM for such vulnerable groups.
2020年新冠疫情封锁导致学校关闭，最终导致午餐计划、半年一次的驱虫和铁叶酸补充剂中断。封锁一年后，我们评估了这些计划中断对印度卡纳塔克邦6至12岁农村小学生营养状况的影响。
从封锁前（2020年2月至2021年2月）开始，在两个时间点对290名儿童进行人体测量、血红蛋白、血清铁蛋白和C反应蛋白检测，时间间隔为1年。
贫血患病率从21%翻倍至40%（p<0.0001），年龄较大的女孩变化更为明显（从10%增至53%）；然而，尽管停止了驱虫和铁/叶酸补充剂，缺铁患病率并未改变（从48.8%降至51.9%）。
贫血增加是由于其他造血营养素摄入受限，可能是由于饮食多样性较低。学校午餐是农村学童日常食物摄入的重要组成部分，通过为这类弱势群体提供学校午餐来维持饮食多样性很重要。
