ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: Nutrition surveys include information about dietary intake and nutritional status utilising clinical, biochemical and anthropometric measurements. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the nutritional status of the Canary Island population by means of biochemical and haematological indicators METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was realised in a representative subsample aged 6 to 75 years that participated in the Nutritional Survey of the Canary Islands, 1997-98 (ENCA). We determined levels of ferritin and vitamin B12 (enzyme-immunoassay), serum and erythrocytic folic acid (automated ionic catchment), retinol, tocopherol and carotenes (high performance liquid chromatography) and minerals (atomic absorption spectrometry) RESULTS: There were neither sex, age nor socio-economic differences in the reference population sample and the ENCA sample. The participation rate was 48.8%. 25% of the women had deficit levels of ferritin and the prevalence of anaemia in women over 18 years was 2.9%. 13% of the population had low erythrocyte folic acid levels, that increased with age, and 3.4% had low vitamin B12 levels, which, on the contrary, decreased with age, 15% of the population presented a deficit of alpha-tocopherol and 5.2% of retinol, being more frequent in the youngest group, and 56.4% and 41.1% exhibited low levels of beta-carotene and lycopene respectively. Among mineral and trace elements, low levels of manganese drew attention due to its heightened prevalence, and, to a lesser extent, selenium. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the complexity of its interpretation, this data yields a precise estimation of nutritional status for certain vitamins and minerals in the Canary Island population.
