Journal of Nutrition
Volume 135, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 808-813

Iron and vitamin A deficiency in long-term African refugees (Conference Paper)

Seal A.J.* , Creeke P.I. , Mirghani Z. , Abdalla F. , McBurney R.P. , Pratt L.S. , Brookes D. , Ruth L.J. , Marchand E.
  • a Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • b Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • c U. Nations High Commissioner R., Geneva, Switzerland
  • d U. Nations High Commissioner R., Geneva, Switzerland
  • e Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • f Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • g Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • h Ctr. for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, WC1 1EH, United Kingdom
  • i United Nations World Food Programme

Abstract

Five cross-sectional surveys were conducted in African refugee camps to assess the level of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin A deficiency in populations dependent on long-term international food aid and humanitarian assistance. The prevalence of anemia in children [hemoglobin (Hb) <110 g/L] was high, with >60% affected in 3 of 5 camps. Iron deficiency [serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) >8.5 mg/L] was also high, ranging from 23 to 75%; there was also a strong ecological correlation between the prevalence of iron deficiency and anemia among different camps. Within camps, sTfR predicted the concentration of Hb with adjusted R2 values ranging from 0.19 to 0.51. Although children were more affected, anemia was also a public health problem in adolescents and women. The effect of recent recommendations on Hb cutoff values for African populations was assessed and found to produce decreases in the prevalence of anemia of between 5 and 21%; this did not affect the public health categorization of the anemia problem within the most affected camps. Mean serum retinol in children, after adjustment for infection status, ranged from 0.72 ± 0.2 to 0.88 ± 0.2 μmol/L in the 4 camps assessed and vitamin A deficiency (<0.7 μmol/L) was present at levels ranging from 20.5 to 61.7%. In areas in which vitamin A capsule distribution programs were in effect, coverage ranged from 3.5 up to 66.2%. The high level of micronutrient deficiencies seen in long-term refugees argues in favor of further enhancements in food aid fortification and the strengthening of nutrition and public health programs. © 2005 American Society for Nutritional Sciences.

Author Keywords

Vitamin A deficiency Micronutrient malnutrition Refugee Anemia

Index Keywords

refugee iron deficiency anemia retinol deficiency vitamin blood level sex ratio correlation analysis human Refugees Sudan Malaria morbidity groups by age Cross-Sectional Studies epidemiological data Humans anemia Adolescent Vitamin A Deficiency female Infant Child, Preschool Africa population research Conference Paper prevalence Deficiency Diseases adult diet supplementation Somalia protein blood level vitamin supplementation Hemoglobins hemoglobin iron malnutrition transferrin receptor Africa, Eastern Child health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-16244387691&partnerID=40&md5=3e60138d7862f0bf0bdf1a130d818139
ISSN: 00223166
Cited by: 39
Original Language: English