Objective: To assess vitamin D status in women and their children aged 4-5 years in Northern Jordan during summer. Design: A cross-sectional study in which 93 mother-child dyads volunteered through local community centers between June and July 2007. Anthropometric measurements were performed and information on socioeconomic status, health issues, lifestyle factors and nutritional intake were obtained from mothers through a questionnaire. Main measures: Serum 25(OH)D and serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels were measured. Results: Mean age (s.d.) was 34.0 (6.0) years for mothers and 60.7 (5.4) months for children. Maternal body mass index (BMI) was 29.6 (5.6) kg/m 2 with 77% of women having a BMI X25 kg/m 2 . Mean concentration of serum 25(OH)D was 25.6 (9.6) nmol/l in mothers; only two women (2.2%) had 25(OH)D concentrations o12.5 nmol/l, but 48.9% of women had o25.0 nmol/l, and 97.8% of women had o50 nmol/l. No woman had values above 75 nmol/l. Children had higher (Po0.0001) serum 25(OH)D concentrations than did their mothers with a mean of 55.8 nmol/l. The children also had lower (Po0.0001) mean serum PTH concentrations than did their mothers (1.47 vs 3.12 pmol/l, respectively). Only three children had serum 25(OH)D concentration o25 nmol/l, but 39% (n ¼ 34) had 25(OH)D o50.0 nmol/l. Older women and those with five or more pregnancies had significantly reduced mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Children living in families with lower income had significantly higher mean serum 25(OH)D concentration as did children consuming fortified milk compared with those consuming non-fortified milk. Conclusion: Despite the abundant sunlight during summer, vitamin D status is a concern for mothers and children in Jordan.

Jordan was late in adopting seawater and brackish water desalination as a source until the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, ongoing studies are still discussing the technical, economic, and socio-political aspects of brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination plants. In this study, the water–energy nexus was considered, in order to highlight the main challenges facing BWRO desalination. We discuss the use of photovoltaic (PV) technology, together with BWRO desalination, as an approach to compensate for ecological, financial, and social challenges in Jordan. For this purpose, the performance of nine existing BWRO desalination plants in the agricultural, domestic, and industrial sectors is assessed. The water performance is assessed based on water consumption, safe yield extraction, plant recovery rate (R, %), and compliance to local and international water quality standards; the Specific Energy Consumption (SEC, kWh/m3) is taken as the main evaluation criterion to assess the energy performance of the BWRO desalination plants; and economic performance is assessed based on the overall cost of water produced per cubic meter (USD/m3). The main environmental component is the brine disposal management practice utilized by each plant. Based on this assessment, the main challenges in BWRO desalination are the unsustainable patterns of water production, mismanaged energy performance, low recovery rates, and improper brine disposal. The challenges in domestic and industrial BWRO desalination, which are completely dependent on the electricity grid, are associated with critical energy and costs losses, as reflected by the high SEC values (in the range of 2.7–5.6 kWh/m3) and high water costs per cubic meter (0.60–1.18 USD/m3). As such, the use of PV solar panels is suggested, in order to reduce the electricity consumption of the assessed BWRO plants. The installation of PV panels resulted in significantly reduced energy costs (by 69–74%) and total costs (by 50–54%), compared with energy costs from the electricity grid, over the lifetime of the assessed BWRO desalination plants.

Cognitive function was assessed in children using scales from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test‐IV (PPVT‐IV) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K‐ABC‐II). Family socioeconomics, anthropometrics, hemoglobin, ferritin, and transferrin receptors (TfRs) were determined in 93 mothers and their children. Mean age (SD) of mothers was 34.0 (6.0) y and of children was 60.7 (5.4) mo. Body mass index (BMI) of mothers was 29.6 (15.2) with 77% of women having BMI = 25 kg/m2. Plasma ferritin for 53.8% of women was <15 µg/L and 44.1% had TfRs = 8.5 mg/L. Only 16% of children had ferritin <12 µg/L and 14% had TfRs = 8.5 mg/L. Mothers with lower incomes had higher TfRs. No significant differences in iron status or cognitive test scores were found between boys and girls. Neither ferritin nor TfRs predicted children's test performance. Children from higher‐income families had higher mean scores on non‐verbal and simultaneous indices from the K‐ABC‐II and on the PPVT. Using stepwise regression, age and kindergarten (KG) attendance significantly predicted mean scores on non‐verbal and simultaneous indices from K‐ABC‐II, and KG but not age predicted the sequential index from the K‐ABC‐II. Children of mothers with high school education or above (n=56) had higher non‐ verbal, simultaneous, and sequential scores on indices from the K‐ABC‐II and the PPVT compared to children whose mothers had less education. Family income, mothers' education, and KG attendance had significant effects on children's cognitive function. (Supported by Oklahoma State University)

Serum 25‐(OH) Vitamin D [25(OH)D] was assessed in 93 women of child bearing age in Jordan in July 2007. Mean age (SD) was 34.0 (6.0) and body mass index (BMI) was 29.6 (15.2) with 77% of women having BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. Mean concentration of 25(OH)D was 25.6 (9.6) nmol/L. Only two women (2.2%) had 25(OH)D concentrations less than 12.5 nmol/L but 71 (76.3%) of the women had values between 12.5 and 30 nmol/L. Twenty‐one percent of the women had 25(OH)D concentrations between 30 and 75 nmol/L but no women had values above 75 nmol/L. In this sample, 86% of the women wore clothing that exposed only their face and hands, but dress style had no significant effect on 25(OH)D concentrations. The women reported a mean of 5.3 (4.6) hours of sun exposure per week. Tendency to avoid sun exposure varied between women: 13.9% (n=13) reported they always avoided sun exposure and 69.9% (n=65) never avoided the sun but reported sunlight exposure was not significantly correlated with 25(OH)D. Liver consumption varied among women: 43% (n=40) never or rarely consumed liver. Milk consumption was low and most of the milk consumed in Jordan is not fortified with vitamin D. Only 7 women reported taking multivitamin supplements that might include vitamin D, and 82.8% of women did not take any type of supplementation. Despite the abundant sunlight in Jordan during summer, vitamin D inadequacy was highly prevalent in women of child‐bearing age. (Supported by Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK)

Prevalence of iron and zinc deficiency among women and their preschool children was assessed in Jordan in July 2007. Hemoglobin and plasma ferritin, zinc, transferrin receptors and α‐1‐ acid glycoprotein (AGP) were determined in 93 mothers and their children. Measurements of hemoglobin, ferritin, and zinc showed 29% of mothers and 10% of children to be deficient by at least two parameters, and 24% of mothers and 3% of children were deficient by three parameters. Thirty‐eight women (41%) and 24 children (26%) were anemic. Mothers with ferritin <15 μg/L were 54%, and 16% of children had ferritin <12 μg/L; half of children were below 22 μg/L. Mothers body iron (mean ± SD) was estimated to be significantly lower (0.5 ± 4.9) mg/kg than their children (3.5 ± 3.8) mg/kg; 45% of mothers had an iron deficit of 4.0 mg/kg body weight while 18% of children had an iron deficit of 0.71 mg/kg body weight. More than 50% of mothers and 30% of children had AGP≥1.2 g/L. Plasma zinc was 67.2 ± 11.4 μg/dL in mothers and 64.6 ± 9.4 μg/dL in children. More than half of women (58%) and children (56%) were below iZiNCG cut‐offs for zinc deficiency. Zinc was correlated for mothers and children (r=0.33, p<.005). The performance of three parameters: TfR, TfR/ferritin, and TfR/Log10ferritin in detecting iron deficiency among mothers and children was evaluated using receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves. TfR/ferritin and TfR/Log10ferritin appeared to have better diagnostic efficiency in detecting iron deficiency than the use of TfR alone. In summary, co‐existing micronutrient deficiencies were widespread among mothers and children in northern Jordan. (Supported by Oklahoma State Univ).