Plasma zinc and copper in Paris area preschool children with growth impairment.

Plasma zinc, copper, and parameters of growth were measured in a group of 116 French preschool children, 2-5 yr-old from low-income households. Participants were selected on the basis of Z-scores of weight for height (WHZ) and height for age (HAZ). Zinc and copper concentrations of children with growth impairment (GI), defined by a WHZ and/or HAZ < -1 Z-score, were compared to those of age, sex, and ethnic origin matched controls (WHZ and HAZ > -1 Z-score).

Decreased serum levels of nutritional biochemical indices in healthy children with marginally delayed physical growth.

Biochemical markers of nutritional status (albumin, transthyretin, insulin-like growth factor-I and zinc) were measured in slowly growing two- to five-year-old, low-income Parisian children whose weight-for-height or height-for-age z scores (WHZ or HAZ) were between -1 and -2 SD of the NCHS median. The results were compared to controls who were matched for age, sex, and ethnic origin with WHZ and HAZ between -1 and +2 SD. Mean serum levels of transthyretin, albumin and insulin-like growth factor-I and mean plasma zinc concentrations were significantly lower in the growth-impaired children than in the controls (p = 0.

Selenium status of healthy immigrant Parisian preschool children.

Plasma selenium (Se) concentration and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx) were assessed in a population of healthy preschool children two to five years old, residing in the city of Paris. In the 118 subjects, mean (+/- SD) plasma Se concentration was 62.10 +/- 13.

Usefulness of red cell distribution width in association with biological parameters in an epidemiological survey of iron deficiency in children.

The diagnostic usefulness of red cell distribution width (RDW) in association with usual biochemical and haematological parameters in detection of iron deficiency has been studied in a representative sample population of 384 children aged six months to six years in Reunion. Traditional parameters measured included serum ferritin (Fri), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum iron (SI), transferrin saturation (TSat), free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and haemoglobin concentration (Hb). RDW is an index of the variation in red cell size (anisocytosis).