Requejo A M, Ortega R M, Navia B, Gaspar M J, Quintas E, López-Sobaler A
Departamento de Nutrición, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1997;67(3):171-5.
An adequate intake of folates and vitamin B12 is essential for the rapid growth rates characteristic of infancy. However, little information exists on the prevalence of deficiencies of these nutrients in preschool children. The status of these vitamins was therefore evaluated in a group of 79 children between 2 and 6 years of age. A 5 day dietary record (including a Sunday) was kept for all subjects. All food taken at day care centres was monitored using "Precise individual weighing" and recorded by trained personnel. Measurements were made of serum and erythrocyte folate levels, vitamin B12 levels, number of red blood cells, haemoglobin and haematocrit levels, and mean corpuscular volume. Though the mean intake of folic acid surpassed recommended levels for this age group 31.4% of the subjects showed intakes below those recommended. 7.7% of the subjects showed serum folate levels between 3 and 6 ng/mL, values which indicate a moderate deficiency of this vitamin. A correlation was found between folate intake and serum folate levels r = 0.3654 (P < 0.01). Vitamin B12 intake was 438% that recommended. Only 2.9% of the subjects showed vitamin B12 intake below recommended and none showed serum values below 150 pg/ml, the lower normal limit below which deficiency is considered to exist.
Amongst preschool children, folate deficiency is probably much more common than vitamin B12 deficiency. However, its incidence is low, and much lower than that observed in other age groups.
摄入足够的叶酸和维生素B12对于婴儿期特有的快速生长速度至关重要。然而，关于学龄前儿童这些营养素缺乏症的患病率的信息很少。因此，对一组79名2至6岁的儿童进行了这些维生素状况的评估。为所有受试者记录了一份为期5天的饮食记录（包括一个星期日）。在日托中心食用的所有食物都采用“精确个体称重”进行监测，并由经过培训的人员记录。测量了血清和红细胞叶酸水平、维生素B12水平、红细胞数量、血红蛋白和血细胞比容水平以及平均红细胞体积。尽管叶酸的平均摄入量超过了该年龄组的推荐水平，但31.4%的受试者摄入量低于推荐值。7.7%的受试者血清叶酸水平在3至6 ng/mL之间，这些值表明该维生素存在中度缺乏。发现叶酸摄入量与血清叶酸水平之间存在相关性，r = 0.3654（P < 0.01）。维生素B12的摄入量是推荐量的438%。只有2.9%的受试者维生素B12摄入量低于推荐值，且无人血清值低于150 pg/ml，低于该下限被认为存在缺乏。
在学龄前儿童中，叶酸缺乏可能比维生素B12缺乏更为常见。然而，其发生率较低，且远低于其他年龄组观察到的发生率。
