1.
East Afr Med J
; 90(3): 104-7, 2013 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26866109
ABSTRACT
Clinical rickets has not been reported previously in Embu district, Kenya. Baseline clinical assessments performed for a nutrition intervention study in preschool children (n=324) identified 28 cases of rickets (8.6% of study sample). Clinical characteristics included: delays of sitting, walking, and teething; bone and chest deformities; widened wrists and ankles; and bowed lower extremities. Risk factors identified were short duration of breastfeeding with feeding of cereal-based supplements with little or no milk, low calcium intake, limited sunlight exposure. Vitamin D and calcium deficiencies likely contributed to these cases. Treatment with Vitamin D3 and milk resulted in clinical improvement.