Micronutrients in childhood and the influence of subclinical inflammation

Abstract

In the present paper biomarkers of micronutrient status in childhood and some of the factors influencing them, mainly dietary intake, requirements and inflammation will be examined. On a body-weight basis the micronutrient requirements of children are mostly higher than those of an adult, but most biomarkers of status are not age-related. A major factor that is often overlooked in assessing status is the influence of subclinical inflammation on micronutrient biomarkers. In younger children particularly the immune system is still developing and there is a higher frequency of sickness than in adults. The inflammatory response rapidly influences the concentration in the blood of several important micronutrients such as vitamin A, Fe and Zn, even in the first 24 h, whereas dietary deficiencies can be envisaged as having a more gradual effect on biomarkers of nutritional status. The rapid response to infection may be for protective reasons, i.e. conservation of reserves, or by placing demands on those reserves to mount an effective immune response. However, because there is a high prevalence of disease in many developing countries, an apparently-healthy child may well be at the incubation stage or convalescing when blood is taken for nutritional assessment and the concentration of certain micronutrient biomarkers will not give a true indication of status. Most biomarkers influenced by inflammation are known, but often they are used because they are convenient or cheap and the influence of subclinical inflammation is either ignored or overlooked. The objective of the present paper is to discuss: (1) some of the important micronutrient deficiencies in childhood influenced by inflammation; (2) ways of correcting the interference from inflammation.