Serum Iron, Zinc, and Vitamin A Levels in 2-to-6-Year-Old Children with Small or No Appetite

Year 2024, Volume: 24 Issue: 1, 5 - 10, 07.05.2024

Medine Taşar , Nevin Özdemiroğlu , Abdurrezak Kaya , Rukiye Ünsal Saç

https://doi.org/10.26650/jchild.2024.1192386

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare height, weight measurements and serum iron, serum zinc, and serum vitamin A levels of children identified as having small/no appetites by their parents, with healthy controls.

Methods: The research has been designed as a prospective study involving children ages 2-6 years who have been identified as having small or no appetite by their parents, as well as healthy controls from the same age group. After obtaining the informed consent forms, the parents filled out the questionnaire that includes questions about their sociodemographic parameters and children’s eating behaviors. The children’s medical and family history were taken and their physical examinations regarding systems, height, and weight were examined. The study also evaluated the children’s hemoglobin, serum iron, serum zinc, and serum vitamin A levels. For both groups, the study excluded children who were born prematurely, who had a family history of chronic drug use or chronic disease, who had abnormal laboratory tests, or who received pathological findings from their physical examination. The study uses the package program SPSS 15.0 package program for statistical comparisons, the chi-squared test for qualitative variations, and the Student’s t test and Mann- Whitney U test for quantitative variations with a value of p<0.05 being considered significant. The study also obtained ethical approval from the regional ethical committee.

Results: The study group includes 54 children (50% female, 50% male), and the control group includes 53 children (59% female, 41% male), each group having similar age and gender distributions. Children with weight and height above the 75th percentile are more common in the control group (28% and 30%, respectively) than among the anorexic children group (2% and 4%, respectively; p=0.002). The study group’s serum iron and serum zinc levels are lower than the control group’s (p=0.026, p=0.002, respectively). The two groups had similar serum vitamin A levels (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Although most children defined as having a small appetite continue to grow normally, evaluating them in terms of iron and zinc deficiencies and supporting them is appropriate in essential cases.

Keywords

Children, appetite, iron, vitamin A, zinc

Project Number

-

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