Abstract:
Objective
To analyze the changes of serum zinc, iron and calcium in malnourished children and its clinical significance.
Methods
A total of 5 806 malnourished children were treated in Hunan Children's Hospital from January to December of 2016, who were enrolled as the research subjects(malnutrition group),and these children were again divided into 3 groups according to the clinical manifestations: emaciation group(n＝619),growth retardation group(n＝3 918) and reduced body mass group(n＝1 269);another 7 395 healthy children were selected as the control group. The serum zinc, iron and calcium were determined in the two groups. Multi-factor Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors in malnourished children.
Results
The level of serum zinc, iron and calcium of the emaciation group, growth retardation group and reduced body mass group was lower than that of control group with statistical difference(P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the level of serum zinc, iron and calcium among different types of malnutrition or different age groups or between boys and girls(P>0.05). Multi-factor regression analysis showed that the risk factors for emaciation children were family income, improper feeding and serum iron and zinc; the risk factors for grow-retarded children were the height of fathers and mothers, serum zinc and serum calcium; the risk factors for children with reduced body mass were family income, birth order and serum zinc.
Conclusion
Child malnutrition is related to the low level of serum zinc, iron and calcium, and the determination of serum zinc, iron and calcium is of great significance.

Key words: Malnutrition, Zinc, Iron, Calcium, Children