This Food and Nutrition Bulletin supplement summarizes updated prevalence data on micronutrient deficiencies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In order to provide an updated view of micronutrient status in LAC, systematic reviews were performed utilizing national health surveys and research-oriented studies focused on the prevalence of deficiencies of vitamin A, folate, anemia (as a pro...

Early life nutritional exposures, combined with changes in lifestyle in adult life, can result in increased risk of chronic diseases. Although much of the focus on the developmental origins of disease has been on birth size and growth in postnatal life and the availability of energy and protein during these critical developmental periods, micronutrient deficiencies may also play an important ro...

OBJECTIVE To examine important micronutrient deficiencies related to child health and growth outcomes for all weight statuses to 1) better understand other potential nutritional problems and inequities that may be masked by focusing solely on BMI percentiles and overweight/obesity, and 2) draw attention to the need for more studies focused on the nutritional well-being of children at all weight...

Targeted fortification programs for infants and young children are an effective strategy to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries, but the role of large-scale fortification of staple foods and condiments is less clear. Dietary modeling in children aged 6-60 months was undertaken, based on food consumption patterns described in the 2009 national food consumption survey, usin...

Over two billion people, or more than one out of three individuals throughout the world, are at risk of iron, vitamin A and iodine deficiencies. Although countries of the Asia Pacific region have generally shown a remarkable decline in the proportion of malnourished children, micronutrient deficiencies remain significant public health problems. The World Summit for Children in 1990, and the FAO...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the relationship of micronutrient deficiencies with the frailty syndrome in older women living in the community. METHODS Frailty status and serum micronutrients were assessed in a cross-sectional study of 754 women, 70-80 years old, from the Women's Health and Aging Studies I and II. RESULTS Among nonfrail, prefrail, and frail women, respectively, geometric mean se...

Bio-fortification of food crops is a cost-effective and sustainable agricultural strategy to decrease malnutrition arising from micronutrients deficiencies. Accordingly, the pot experiments have been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of various foliar-applied iron (Fe) fertilizers in increasing agro-morphological traits and grain micronutrients concentrations of bread wheat plants unde...

BACKGROUND Vitamins and minerals are essential for growth and metabolism. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 2 billion people are deficient in key vitamins and minerals. Groups most vulnerable to these micronutrient deficiencies are pregnant and lactating women and young children, given their increased demands. Food fortification is one of the strategies that has been used s...

Although the grosser clinical manifestations of micronutrient deficiency are now rare in Western society, biochemical and functional disturbances may occur before the onset of overt deficiency states. It has been argued that, since the vast majority of subjects with apparent biochemical abnormalities do not progress to classical, overt deficiency states, these abnormalities are relatively unimp...