Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T05:17:46.970Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prevalence of micronutrient deficiency particularly of iron, zinc and folic acid in pregnant women in South East Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Subadra Seshadri
Subadra Seshadri*
Affiliation:
Department of Foods and Nutrition, MS University of Baroda, Vadodara 390002, India
*
Corresponding author: Dr Subadra Seshadri, fax +91 265 795622, email seshadris2001@yahoo.co.in
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Micronutrient deficiency, whether clinical or subclinical, may affect growth, cognition and reproductive performance. In pregnant women moderate to severe deficiencies of iron, zinc and folic acid have been shown to increase risk of low birth weight, pregnancy complications and birth defects. Any attempt to introduce a micronutrient supplementation programme during pregnancy must be based on adequate data on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies, their adverse effects and the potential for reversing these through supplementation. This paper reviews parameters for assessment of iron, zinc and folic acid deficiencies in pregnancy and the available data on prevalence of these in pregnant women in South Asia. Iron deficiency and anemia affect 50 % or more of pregnant women, the prevalence of folic acid deficiency may be up to 30–50 % and there is evidence to suggest that zinc deficiency is likely to be widespread but supportive data are scarce.

Keywords

IronFolic acidZincDeficiency
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 85 , Issue S2 , May 2001 , pp. S87 - S92
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2001

References

Basu, RN, Sood, SK, Ramachandran, K, Mathur, M & Ramalingaswamy, V (1973) Etiopathogenesis of nutritional anemia in pregnancy: a therapeutic approach. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 26, 591–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batu, AT, Thane, T, Pe, H & Nyunt, KK (1976) A prophylactic trial of iron and folic acid supplements in pregnant Burmese women. ISV Journal of Medical Sciences 12, 1410–1417.Google ScholarPubMed
Beard, JL (1994) Iron deficiency: assessment during pregnancy and its importance in pregnant adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59(Suppl.), 5025–5105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bothwell, TH, Charlton, RW, Cook, JD & Finch, CA (1979) Iron Metabolism in Man. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Breskin, MW, Worthington-Roberts, BS, Knopp, RH, Brown, Z, Plovie, B, Mottet, NK & Mills, JL (1983) First trimester serum zinc concentration in human pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 38, 943–953.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carriaga, TM, Skikne, BS, Finley, B, Cutler, B & Cook, J (1991) Serum transferring receptor for the detection of iron deficiency in pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 54, 1077–1081.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caulfield, LE, Zvaleta, N, Shankar, A & Merialdi, M (1998) Potential contribution of maternal zinc supplementation during pregnancy to maternal and child survival. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 68(Suppl.), 4995–5085.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caulfield, LE, Zavaleta, N & Figuroa, A (1999) Adding zinc to prenatal iron and folate supplements improves maternal and neo-natal zinc status in a Peruvian population. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69, 1257–1263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caudill, MA, Cruz, AC, Gregory, JF & Huston, AD (1997) Folate status response to controlled folate intake in pregnant women. Journal of Nutrition 127, 2363–2370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cherry, FF, Bennett, EA, Bazzano, GS, Johnson, LK, Fosmire, GJ & Batson, HK (1981) Plasma zinc in hypertension/toxemia and other reproductive variables in adolescent pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 34, 367–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cousins, RJ (1996) Zinc. In Present Knowledge in Nutrition [Ziegler, EE and LJ Filer, Jr, editors]. Washington, DC: ILSI Press.Google Scholar
Daouda, H, Galan, P, Prual, A, Sekou, H & Herceberg, S (1991) Iron status of Nigerian mothers and their newborns. International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research 61, 46–50.Google ScholarPubMed
Duncan, JR (1988) Zinc nutriture in pregnant and lactating women in different population groups. South African Medical Journal 73, 160–162.Google ScholarPubMed
Hambidge, KM & Drogemuelleg, W (1974) Changes in plasma and hair concentrations of zinc, copper, chromium and manganese during pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology 44, 666–672.Google Scholar
Hambidge, KM & Neldner, KH (1978) Zinc and copper in clinical medicine. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of India 35, 1–12.Google Scholar
Hambidge, KM, Krebs, NF, Jacobs, MA, Favier, A, Gvyette, L & Ikle, DN (1983) A prospective study of serial maternal serum zinc levels and pregnancy outcome. Early Human Development 7, 59–69.Google Scholar
Iyengar, L & Rajalakshmi, K (1975) Effect of folic acid supplement on birth weight of infants. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 122, 332–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen, BM, Sando, SH, Grandjean, P, Wiggers, P & Dalhoj, J (1990) Screening with zinc protoporphyrin for iron deficiency in non-anemic female blood donors. Clinical Chemistry 36, 487–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, JC (1990) Assessment of zinc status. Journal of Nutrition 11(Suppl), 1474–1479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuvibidila, S, Yu, CL, Ode, DL, Warrier, RP & Mbele, V (1994) Assessment of iron status of Zairean women of child bearing age by serum transferrin receptor. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60, 603–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipschitz, DA, Cook, JD & Finch, CA (1974) A clinical evaluation of serum ferritin as an index of iron stores. New England Journal of Medicine 29, 1213.Google Scholar
Meadows, NJ, Ruse, W, Smith, MF, Day, J, Keeling, PW, Scopes, JW, Thompson, RP & Bloxam, DL (1981) Zinc and small babies. Lancet 2, 59–69.Google ScholarPubMed
Milne, DB, Gallagher, SK & Nielsen, FH (1990) Response of various indices of iron status to acute iron depletion produced in women by low iron intake and phelebotomy. Clinical Chemistry 36, 487–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, MD, Sandsted, HH, Ratnaparkhi, MU, Johnson, LK, Milne, DB & Stelling, HP (1984) Maternal zinc, iron, folic acid and protein nutriture and outcome of pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40, 496–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nageswara, Rao C & Narasinga, Rao BA (1981) Trace element content of Indian foods and the dietaries. Indian Journal of Medical Research 73, 904–909.Google Scholar
Neggers, YH, Cutler, GR, Action, RT, Alvarej, JA, Bonner, JL, Goldenberg, RL, Go, RCP & Roseman, JM (1990) A positive association between maternal serum zinc concentration and birth weight. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51, 678–684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parr, RM (1996) Assessment of dietary intakes. In Trace Elements in Human Nutrition and Health, pp. 265–288. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Prasad, AS (1989) Human zinc deficiency. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of India 35, 1–12.Google Scholar
Prual, A, Galan, P, Bernes, L & Herceberg, S (1990) Iron status at the end of pregnancy: Consequences of maternal iron deficiency on the iron status of the newborn. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews 60(1), 141.Google Scholar
Quist, I, Abdulla, M, Jagerstad, M & Svenson, S (1986) Iron, zinc and folate status during pregnancy and two months after delivery. Acta Obstetrica Gynecologica Scandinavia 65, 15–22.Google Scholar
Raman, L, Subbalakshmi, PV, Vasumati, N, Rawal, A, Vasanthi, G, Parvathi, CH, Adinarayana, K, Pawashe, AB & Rao, KV (1989) Iron and folic acid. Nutritional Reports International 39, 493–502.Google Scholar
Refsum, H, Ueland, PM & Svardal, AM (1989) Fully automated fluorescence assay for determining total homocysteine in plasma. Clinical Chemistry 35, 1921–1927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandström, B; (2000) Micronutrient interactions: effects on absorption and bioavailability. In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneede, J, Dagnelie, PC, van Staveren, WA, Vollset, SE, Refsum, H & Ueland, PM (1994) Methylmalonic acid and homocysteine in plasma as indicators of functional cobalamin deficiency in infants on macrobiotic diets. Pediatric Research 36, 194–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seshadri, S (1997) Nutritional anemia in South Asia. In Malnutrition in South Asia – A Regional Profile, pp. 75–124.UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia.Google Scholar
Selhub, J & Rosenberg, IH (1996) Folic acid. In Present Knowledge in Nutrition, pp. 206–219 [Ziegler, EE & LJ, Filer, editors].Washington DC: ILSI Press.Google Scholar
Skikne, B, Flowers, CH & Cook, JD (1990) Serum transferring receptor. A quantitative measure of tissue iron deficiency. Blood 75, 1870–1876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Songchitsomboon, S, Komindr, S, Phuarpnadit, W & Sirivarasae, J (1998) Zinc and copper status in urban Thai pregnant women and their pregnancy outcome. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 11, 156–164.Google Scholar
Sood, SK, Ramachandran, K, Mathur, M, Gupta, K, Ramalingaswamy, V, Swarnabai, C, Ponniah, J, Mathan, VI & Baker, SJ (1975) WHO sponsored collaborative studies on nutritional anaemia in India. 1 The effects of supplemental oral iron administration to pregnant women. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 44, 241–258.Google ScholarPubMed
Swanson, CA & King, JC (1987) Zinc and pregnancy outcome. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 763–771.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, H, Chen, XC & Wang, WC (1990) Nutritional status of gestating Chinese women and its influence upon neonates with emphasis on iron. Nutrition Research 10, 493–502.Google Scholar
Whittaker, PG, Lind, T & Williams, JG (1991) Iron absorption during normal human pregnancy: a study using stable isotopes. British Journal of Nutrition 65, 457–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (1992) The prevalence of anemia in women: a tabulation of available information. Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood and Nutrition Programme. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Yip, R & Dallman, PR (1996) 277–292 [Ziegler, EE & Filer, LJ, editors]. Washington DC: ILSI Press.Google Scholar
Zinnerman, AW, Dienham, BS, Nochimson, DJ, Kaplan, BM & Kunkel, SL (1984) Zinc transport in pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 149, 523–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar