Concurrent iron and zinc deficiencies in lactating mothers and their children 6-23 months of age in two agro-ecological zones of rural Ethiopia

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to examine the co-occurrences of low serum ferritin and zinc and anaemia among mothers and their children in two agro-ecological zones of rural Ethiopia.

METHODS: Data were collected from 162 lactating mothers and their breast fed children aged 6-23 months. The data were collected via a structured interview, anthropometric measurements, and blood tests for zinc, ferritin and anaemia. Correlation, Chi-square and multivariable analysis were used to determine the association between nutritional status of mothers and children, and agro-ecological zones.

RESULTS: Low serum levels of iron and zinc, anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia were found in 44.4, 72.2, 52.5 and 29.6% of children and 19.8, 67.3, 21.8, 10.5% of mothers, respectively. There was a strong correlation between the micronutrient status of the mothers and the children for ferritin, zinc and anaemia (p < 0.005). Deficiency in both zinc and ferritin and one of the two was observed in 19.1, and 53.7% of the mothers and 32.7 and 46.3%, of their children, respectively. In the 24 h before the survey, 82.1% of mothers and 91.9% of their infants consumed foods that can decrease zinc bioavailability while only 2.5% of mothers and 3.7% of their infants consumed flesh foods.

CONCLUSION: This study shows that micronutrient deficiencies were prevalent among lactating mothers and their children, with variation in prevalence across the agro-ecological zones. This finding calls for a need to design effective preventive public health nutrition programs to address both the mothers' and their children's needs.