Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar 18;11(3):e0146810.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146810. eCollection 2016.

Biological Status and Dietary Intakes of Iron, Zinc and Vitamin A among Women and Preschool Children in Rural Burkina Faso

Yves Martin-Prevel  1 , Pauline Allemand  1 , Laetitia Nikiema  2 , Kossiwavi A Ayassou  1 , Henri Gautier Ouedraogo  2 , Mourad Moursi  3 , Fabiana F De Moura  3
Affiliations

Biological Status and Dietary Intakes of Iron, Zinc and Vitamin A among Women and Preschool Children in Rural Burkina Faso

Yves Martin-Prevel et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Food-based approaches such as biofortification are meant to sustainably address micronutrient deficiencies in poor settings. Knowing more about micronutrient intakes and deficiencies is a prerequisite to designing and evaluating interventions.

Objective: The objectives of the study were to assess biological status and dietary intakes of iron, zinc and vitamin A among women and children aged 36-59 months in rural Burkina Faso and to study relationships between intake and status to better inform future food-based interventions.

Design: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in two rural provinces of Burkina Faso on a random cluster sample of 480 mother-child pairs. Dietary data was obtained by 24-hour recalls repeated on a random sub-selection of 37.5% of subjects to allow calculation of nutrient's probability of adequacy (PA). Biomarkers were measured on a sub-sample of 180 mother-child pairs. Blood samples were analyzed for hemoglobin, serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptors (sTfR), C-reactive protein, alpha-1-glycoprotein, serum zinc concentration (SZnC) and retinol. For each micronutrient the relationship between biomarker and dietary intake was investigated by multiple linear regression models accounting for inflammatory biomarkers.

Results: Mean PA for iron, zinc and vitamin A was 0.49, 0.87 and 0.21 among women and 0.61, 0.95 and 0.33 among children, respectively. Prevalence of anemia, corrected low serum ferritin and high sTfR was 37.6%, 4.0% and 77.5% among women and 72.1%, 1.5% and 87.6% among children, respectively. Prevalence of low SZnC and corrected low serum retinol was 39.4% and 12.0% among women and 63.7% and 24.8% among children, respectively. There was a tendency for a positive relationship between vitamin A intakes and serum retinol among women (β = 0.0003, P = 0.06). Otherwise, no link was found between micronutrients biomarkers and intakes.

Conclusion: Our study depicted different images of micronutrient deficiencies when based on dietary intakes or biomarkers results, thus highlighting the need for more suitable biomarkers and more precise measures of absorbable micronutrient intakes at the individual level. It thus points to challenges in the design and evaluation of future biofortification or other food-based interventions in rural areas of Burkina Faso.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Black RE, Victora CG, Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, de Onis M, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet. 2013;382(9890):427–51. 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60937-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO. The World Health Report 2002 Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002. - PubMed
    1. Victora CG, Adair L, Fall C, Hallal PC, Martorell R, Richter L, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital. Lancet. 2008;371(9609):340–57. 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61692-4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hotz C, McClafferty B. From harvest to health: challenges for developing biofortified staple foods and determining their impact on micronutrient status. Food Nutr Bull. 2007;28(2 Suppl):S271–9. . - PubMed
    1. Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INSD), ICF International. Enquête Démographique et de Santé et à Indicateurs Multiples du Burkina Faso 2010. Calverton, Maryland, USA: INSD et ICF International, 2012.

Publication types