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Population patterns of hair zinc, dietary and socio-demographic determinants

University of British Columbia

Marginal zinc deficiency (MZD) exists in children of industrialized societies and can impair growth and development. Presently there are no data available on its global prevalence. It is believed that MZD is one of the most common hidden deficiencies throughout the world. This is partly because of the lack of sensitivity and specificity of serum zinc, the most commonly used biomarker of zinc status, to detect MZD . This deficiency in children is always accompanied by a decrease in hair zinc . Although in research settings hair zinc is a recognized biomarker of MZD in children, health practitioners do not presently use it. These cross-sectional studies were designed to examine the hair zinc status of preschoolers in Vancouver . They also aimed at exploring some dietary and non-dietary factors associated with hair zinc status in an attempt to construct and validate a screening tool for detection of MZD. Our first study indicated a mean hair zinc of 75±30 μg/g, with 46% below the cutoff (<70μg/g) for a group (n=87) of low-income preschoolers (Chapter II). Among these children we observed negative associations between the hair zinc and consumption of dairy (R² =0.09, P=0 .01) and milk (R² =0.08, P=0.01), being described as "often sick" (R² =0.55, P=0 .00) and "eating unhealthy" (R² =0.16 P=0.00), and prolonged breastfeeding (R² =0.11, P=0.01). Our citywide survey (n=719) indicated a mean hair zinc of 116±43 μg/g with 17% below the cutoff (Chapter III). Logistic regression analysis indicated sex, age, maternal education, the number of adults at home, consumption frequency of milk, "scores of activity level", "being described as frequently sick" and "taking supplements containing iron" as the significant predictors of hair zinc status . However, the final model had 16% sensitivity while having 98 .3% specificity, indicating its lack of usefulness as a screening tool. Our study provides important information on the hair zinc status of Vancouver preschoolers. Although we did not accomplish our primary goal of constructing and validating a screening tool, we did identify some factors in children and their environment associated with hair zinc, which may help in better understanding of hair zinc as a biomarker of MZD .

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2008-09-08

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1720

Human Nutrition

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/