Are obese children at increased risk of micronutrient deficiency?

Background: the prevalence of obesity continues to rise all around the world. obesity is associated with important complications such as coronary heart disease,hyperlipidemia,diabetes and others. on the other hand micronutrient deficiency especially iron deficiency affects many children worldwide. methods: in this study we evaluated the association between obesity and deficiency of micronutrients such as iron,calcium and phosphorus in children 2-16 years old. 280 obese and 280 non-obese children between 2-16 years old,attending the endocrine and metabolism clinic of imam reza hospital in mashhad,north east of iran,were evaluated. bmi≥85% was defined as overweight and ≥ 95% as obesity. serum iron,ferritin,tibc,mcv,hemoglobin,hematocrit,calcium and phosphorus levels were compared between the two groups. results: hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were significantly lower in obese children. also,serum iron,calcium and phosphorus levels were significantly lower in obese children in comparison with their non-obese counterparts. low mcv,mch and mchc were also more frequent among obese children. conclusion: the results of our study shows the significant impact of healthy nutrition on the overall health state of the society and also on prevention of complications of obesity such as anemia and calcium and phosphorus deficiency. © 2015,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.