Comparison of Undernutrition Prevalence of Children under 5 Years in China between 2002 and 2013.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the undernutrition status of children under 5-year in China, and study the trend between 2002 and 2013). METHODS: The study was based on two national surveys. Undernutrition was determined against WHO's 2006 growth standards. The prevalence in 2013 and 2002 was weighted by China sixth National Population Census (2010). The relationship between undernutrition and gender/age groups/different areas use weighted logistic regression. RESULTS: The results indicated the overall prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting of Chinese children under 5-year was 8.1%, 2.4%, and 1.9% in 2013, respectively. The prevalence of stunting was higher for children aged 12-47 month, while underweight was higher for children aged 48-59 month. The prevalence of undernutrition was higher in rural areas than in urban areas, especially in poor rural areas. There was a decline of stunting, underweight, and wasting between 2002 and 2013 among the children, with greater reduction in rural areas than in urban areas. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of undernutrition of children under 5-year remains high in rural areas especially in poor rural areas in China. It is urgent to take action to control undernutrition in the vulnerable areas and subgroups.

[Efficacy of iron saturated recombinant human lactoferrin on alleviating iron deficiency anemia in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of iron saturated recombinant human lactoferrin (Fe-rhLf) on treating iron deficiency anemia (IDA). METHODS: SD rats received iron deficient diet and deionized water during the whole experiment. After 4 weeks, the rats with hemoglobin less than 100 g/L were selected and divided into 5 groups randomly. IDA group received 100 mg/(kg×d) casein dissolved in deionized water intragastrically; FeSO4 group received 5.43 mg/(kg×d) [2.0 mg/(kg×d) iron]+100 mg/(kg×d) casein intragastrically; low dose Fe-rhLf group received 75.53 mg/(kg×d) Fe-rhLf [0.5 mg/(kg×d) iron] +75 mg/(kg×d) casein intragastrically; middle dose group received 151.06 mg/(kg×d) Fe-rhLf [1.0 mg/(kg×d) iron]+50 mg/(kg×d) casein intragastrically; high dose group received 302.11 mg/(kg×d) Fe-rhLf [2.0 mg/(kg×d) iron] intragastrically. After 30 days of intervention, the rats' blood was collected and used to do the routine blood test, serum iron and serum anti-oxidants test. The liver hepcidin and ferroportin mRNA expression was tested by real time PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the animals in the IDA group, Fe-rhLf could increase weight significantly (P<0.05), hematological parameters, like hemoglobin (P<0.01) and red blood cell count (P<0.01) recovered significantly. Compared with animals in FeSO4 group, high dose Fe-rhLf could improve hemoglobin significantly (P<0.05). The liver hepcidin expression was up regulated and ferroportin down regulated. CONCLUSION: Fe-rhLf has a significant effect on treating iron deficiency anemia.