Abstract:
Introduction: Anemia is a major public health challenge worldwide that occurs with a higher prevalence in under-five children who live in rural areas.
Objectives: This study was designed to find out if there is any association between zinc deficiency and anaemia in preschool children.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural Bangladesh from July 2018 to December 2019. Total 428 under-five children were enrolled, of them 61.45% (263) were anaemic. Etiological exploration was conducted among anaemia respondent (n=163) through essential blood tests (CBC, Hb electrophoresis, Ferritin, Vitamin B12 assay, and Folate assay) and of them 36% remained as undifferentiated. These subjects and who willing to respond were enrolled for further Zinc assay as per study flowchart. Then serum zinc was estimated through the colorimetric method by a semi-automated biochemistry analyzer. Zinc status was defined as deficiency (<69 μg/dL), normal (≥69 to <108 μg/dL) and high (≥109 μg/dL). Chi-square (χ2) tests were done to find out the significant factors. Ethical clearance was obtained from IBSc, Rajshahi University. The data were analyzed through SPSS 23 software and at a 95% confidence interval and p values < 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: The overall prevalence of anaemia was 61.45%. Etiologically, iron deficiency anemia (34%) was observed as the leading pattern followed by inherited hemoglobin disorder (32%) and zinc deficiency (24%). Zinc status (n = 67) revealed, nearly 72 % of anaemic children belonged to low zinc category, 22% had normal status and remaining 6% had high zinc level. Among low zinc category (72%), a proportionate 55% anaemic children independently associated with zinc deficiency alone, which was statistically significant (p < .001).
Conclusion: The study indicates nearly one fourth of anaemic population had low level zinc and of them nearly three-fourth of the anaemia sufferer independently associated with zinc deficiency alone.
