Cobalamin and folate status in malnourished children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20172690Keywords:
Folate deficiency, Malnutrition, Vitamin B12 deficiencyAbstract
Background: Vitamin B12 and folate are essential micronutrients which are critical especially during infancy and early childhood as these are periods of rapid growth, development, and increased demand. Malnutrition further increases the risk of these micronutrient deficiency due to poor socioeconomic status, inadequate intake and poor absorption. Aim of present work was to study the cobalamin and folate status in malnourished children.
Methods: A hospital based observational study on 80 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) aged 6-60 months. Detailed socio-economic, feeding and development history with complete anthropometric evaluation was done. Blood samples sent for measurement of plasma vitamin B12 and serum folate levels. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0.
Results: Mean age of SAM children was 17.25±12.60 months. 30 (37.5%) had vitamin B12 deficiency (vitamin B12 levels<100pg/ml) and 9 (11.25%) had borderline vitamin B12 levels (100-200pg/ml). Folate deficiency was found in only 7 (8.75%) children. Mean vitamin B12 and folate levels were found to be 353.65±330.76pg/ml, 11.18±4.17ng/ml respectively. Among vitamin B12 deficient children, majority (26, 86.66%) belong to lower socio-economic status, 17 (56.66%) were still predominantly on breast feeding and 11 (36.66%) had delayed introduction of complementary feeding. Among B12 deficient children 23 (76.66%) had delayed development (DQ <70). 100% of B12 deficient children were anemic with majority (21,70%) having severe anemia. 17 (56.66%) B12 deficient children also had associated thrombocytopenia (PC <1.5 lakh/cumm).
Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among malnourished children. Folate deficiency was found only in few. Efforts should be directed to prevent its deficiency in pregnant and breastfeeding women and their infants with special attention on malnourished children.
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