Mineral micronutrient status and spatial distribution among the Ethiopian population

Abstract

Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in Ethiopia. However, the distribution of selenium and zinc deficiency risks has previously shown evidence of spatially dependent variability, warranting the need to explore this aspect for wider micronutrients. Here, blood serum concentrations for calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), and molybdenum (Mo) were measured (n 3,102) on samples from the Ethiopian National Micronutrient Survey. Geostatistical modelling was used to test spatial variation of these micronutrients for women of reproductive age (WRA), who represent the largest demographic group surveyed (n 1,290). Median serum concentrations were 8.6 mg dL−1 for Ca, 1.9 mg dL−1 for Mg, 0.4 µg L−1 for Co, 98.8 µg dL−1 for Cu, and 0.2 µg dL−1 for Mo. The prevalence of Ca, Mg and Co deficiency was 41.6%, 29.2% and 15.9%, respectively; Cu and Mo deficiency prevalence was 7.6% and 0.3%, respectively. A higher prevalence of Ca, Cu and Mo deficiency was observed in north western, Co deficiency in central, and Mg deficiency in north eastern parts of Ethiopia. Serum Ca, Mg, and Mo concentrations show spatial dependencies up to 140–500 km; however, there was no evidence of spatial correlations for serum Co and Cu concentrations. These new data indicate the scale of multiple mineral micronutrient deficiency in Ethiopia and the geographical differences in the prevalence of deficiencies suggesting the need to consider targeted responses during the planning of nutrition intervention programs.

Global, regional and national prevalence of copper, selenium and zinc deficiencies in women of childbearing age: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Observational cohort or cross-sectional studies and intervention studies with data on micronutrient deficiency before the intervention and with women of childbearing age as the population group will be included. Although most studies consider fertile age 15–49 years 12–14. In this study, this group will be 10 and 49 years old, by request of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.…”

“…Although most studies consider fertile age 15-49 years. [12][13][14] In this study, this group will be 10 and 49 years old, by request of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.…”

Micronutrients and socio-demographic factors were major predictors of anaemia among the Ethiopian population

“…These were prepared in an identical way to samples and calibration standards and typically run at the beginning and at the end of every analytical run. Average elemental recovery (%; n 24) was determined across ten analytical batches of blood serum, and the reference ranges are reported elsewhere (41)(42)(43) . Quality control samples for Fe and inflammatory markers (soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), ferritin, α-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP), C-reactive protein (CRP)) were also analysed for every batch of samples and the results fell within the acceptable ranges.…”

“…Complete data were available for 2046 subjects. Demographic characteristics of the ENMS participants are reported in previous papers (39,41) . High proportion of anaemia prevalence was observed in wasting subjects (23•8 %) compared with normal and overweight subjects (online Supplementary Table 2).…”

“…The analysis of mineral micronutrients in serum samples is described in detail elsewhere (41)(42)(43) . Briefly, elemental concentrations in serum samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma-MS (Thermo Fisher Scientifc iCAPQ, Thermo Fisher Scientific) at University of Nottingham, UK, where the laboratory was accredited in all parameters except Mo.…”