Nutritional status and zinc nutriture in infants and children in a poor urban community of Brazil

作者：José G. Dórea, I Santiago de Almeida, Eduardo Flávio Oliveira Queiróz, Mary Ruth Horner · 发表于：Ecology of Food and Nutrition · 年份：1982 · DOI：10.1080/03670244.1982.9990687 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Trace Elements in Health、Child Nutrition and Water Access、Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity

A nutritional status study of 146 children, 1 to 12 years old, in a poor urban community of Brazil showed that 27 percent had moderate or severe malnutrition Low hair zinc levels (<70 μg/g) were found in 5.5 percent of the sample and in seven of eight cases these were infants ≤2 years. Mean (±S.D.) hair zinc level of 83 pre‐school children, 136 ± 53 ; μg/g was significantly lower than that of 63 school children, 156 ± 39 μg/g. Color had a significant effect on hair zinc levels, regardless of age, with the lowest values found in blond hair. There were no significant differences in hair zinc between normal and malnourished children, using physical growth as the criterion for nutritional status. Parasite infestation was prevalent, as 92 percent of the sample was positive for one or more parasite. The high prevalence of malnutrition was attributed to environmental factors, including poor diet, intestinal parasites and inadequate living conditions.