Objective: To report on the haemoglobin concentrations and prevalence of anaemia in schoolchildren in eight countries in Africa and Asia. Design: Blood samples were collected during surveys of the health of schoolchildren as a part of programmes to develop school-based health services. Setting: Rural schools in Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Vietnam.

Background: The high deficiency of vitamin D were caused by low vitamin D intake which are limited amounts of vitamin D food sources, and sunlight exposure. Indoor workers were likely to be lower sunlight exposure, while outdoor workers were higher of sunlight exposure, but when someone often exposed sunlight used covering clothes and sun protector then the exposure was not enough to complete the needs of vitamin D. The purpose of this study was to compare intake of vitamin D and sunlight exposure between indoor and outdoor workers.Methods: The analytic descriptive study was held in Sayung Subdistrict with 60 sample aged 19-64 years were selected by using consecutive sampling. Vitamin D intakes was measured by SQ-FFQ and analyzed using nutrisurvey. Sunlight exposure were obtained by doing direct interview with questionnaire and sunlight exposure recall 3x24h. The data were analyzed by using descriptive tests and bivariate tests.Results: The indoor worker’s frequency of sunlight exposure was higher (p = 0.001), indoor worker’s body was more closed (p = 0.02), indoor worker’s habit of using sunlight protector was more often (p = 0.001), outdoor worker’s total duration of sunlight exposure was higher (p = 0.001), outdoor workers were more often to use polyester material textile (p= 0.07), and vitamin D intake was higher in outdoor workers than indoor workers (p = 0.79).   Conclusion: Indoor workers were at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency due to low vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure because of often used covering clothes and sunlight  protectors.

A history of pesticide exposure could be used as a risk factor for the occurrence of thyroid dysfunction in children living in agricultural areas.

Zn supplementation has shown inconsistent effects on respiratory morbidity in young children in developing countries. Few studies have focused on upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), a frequent cause of morbidity in this group, and potential benefit from Zn supplementation or factors that influence its efficacy. We investigated the effects of Zn supplementation on URTI before and after vitamin A supplementation. This randomised double-blinded controlled Zn supplementation study was conducted on 826 children aged 2–5 years. Placebo or Zn (10 mg/d) was given in syrup daily for 4 months, with 200 000 IU vitamin A (60 mg retinol) given to all children at 2 months. Health workers visited children every 3 d for compliance and morbidity information. We found that 84 % of children experienced URTI during the study. Zn supplementation reduced the percentage of days with URTI (12 % reduction;P = 0·09), with greater impact following vitamin A supplementation (20 % reduction;P = 0·01). Vitamin A supplementation was associated with a decreased number but an increased duration of URTI episodes. We conclude that Zn combined with vitamin A supplementation significantly reduced the percentage of days with URTI in a population of preschool Indonesian children with marginal nutritional status. The results suggest that vitamin A status modifies the efficacy of Zn supplementation on URTI.

Background: The prevalence of growth disorders among school-aged children in Indonesia is high (30.7%). Pesticides have been massively used in Indonesian agricultural areas. Objective: To determine if exposure to pesticides is associated with stunting among children in agricultural areas. Methods: This case-control study included 160 children (48 cases and 112 controls) aged 8–12 years. Exposure to pesticides was measured based on the history of the exposure since perinatal period, infancy, and childhood of the participants. Stunting was determined as a height for age z-score (HAZ) < -2 SD. Other variables measured were levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), hemoglobin, zinc, albumin, nutrient adequacy level (energy and protein), and history of infection, low-birth weight (LBW), and mother's height. Results: There were no significant difference between the cases and controls in terms of in the baseline characteristics, except for the median IGF-1 level; it was significantly (p<0.001) lower in the cases (66.73 ng/mL) than the controls (112.57 ng/mL). High level of pesticide exposure (p=0.029) and low IGF-1 levels (p<0.001) were significantly associated with stunting. After adjusting for confounding variables, these variables were found to be independent risk factors for stunting in children (aOR 3.90, 95% CI 1.15 to 13.26; and aOR 8.35, 95% CI 3.65 to 19.14, respectively). Conclusion: Pesticide exposure could be a risk factor for the occurrence of growth disorders in children living in agricultural areas. Necessary actions should be taken to protect children living in agricultural areas from exposure to pesticides.