The Journal of nutrition
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The Journal of nutrition · Mar 2005
Plasma homocysteine concentrations in Greek children are influenced by an interaction between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T genotype and folate status.
Risk factors established at young ages may set the stage for later cardiovascular disease (CVD). Elevated total homocysteine (tHcy) in blood is an emerging risk factor for CVD, yet few studies have been conducted in children, especially in the Mediterranean. We described plasma tHcy concentrations in a group of healthy Greek children and examined its relation with physiologic, metabolic, and genetic variables. ⋯ Specifically, the homozygous mutant TT genotype was associated with higher tHcy only in children with lower plasma folate (< 19.9 nmol/L), (P = 0.012). In our sample of healthy Greek children, plasma tHcy concentrations were higher than values reported in children of Northern European descent and were associated with folate, vitamin B-12, and glucose in plasma. The results also show that, similar to adults, plasma folate concentration is important in determining the contribution of the MTHFR C677T mutation to tHcy concentrations in children.
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The Journal of nutrition · Mar 2005
The prevalence of wasting, but not stunting, has improved in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the nutritionally vulnerable countries of the world. The objectives of this paper were to determine the current prevalence of undernutrition among children using data from the latest national survey and to compare the findings with those from the previous national survey in 1997. In 2002 with cooperation from UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), the government of the DPRK conducted a survey of 6000 households with children < 7 y old using multiple-stage sampling methods. ⋯ Although the prevalence of wasting has decreased from 1997 (16.5%) to 2002 (8.2%), the prevalence of stunting has not changed between those years, 38.2 vs. 39.4%. Thus, we conclude that acute undernutrition is decreasing in the DPRK, but chronic undernutrition that results in stunting is still highly prevalent. Continued surveillance of nutritional status of children in the DPRK is warranted given the continued state of undernutrition in that country.