Low Blood Zinc, Iron, and Other Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Behavior Problems in Preschoolers
School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Nutrients 2014, 6(2), 530-545; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6020530
Received: 25 November 2013
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Revised: 13 January 2014
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Accepted: 20 January 2014
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Published: 27 January 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paediatric Nutrition)
Previous research supports the link among malnutrition, cognitive dysfunction, and behavioral outcomes; however, less research has focused on micronutrient deficiencies. This study investigates whether micronutrient deficiencies, specifically blood zinc and iron levels, will be associated with increased behavior problem scores, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors. 1314 Children (55% boys and 45% girls) from the Jintan Preschool Cohort in China participated in this study. Venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for zinc and iron when the children were 3–5 years old. Behavior problems were measured with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), which was completed by the parents when children were in their last months of preschool (mean age 5.6 years). General linear multivariate modeling was used, with adjustment for important sociodemographic variables. The results indicate that low zinc levels alone (p = 0.024) and combined low zinc and iron levels (p = 0.022) are significantly associated with increased reports of total behavior problems. We did not find an association between low iron and behavior problems. With regards to sociodemographics, living in the suburbs is associated with increased internalizing problems, while higher mother’s education and being female were associated with decreased externalizing problems. This study suggests that micronutrient deficiencies and sociodemographic facts are associated with behavior problems in preschoolers.
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Keywords:
internalizing; externalizing; total behavior; CBCL; child; micronutrient deficiency; zinc and iron
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Liu, J.; Hanlon, A.; Ma, C.; Zhao, S.R.; Cao, S.; Compher, C. Low Blood Zinc, Iron, and Other Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Behavior Problems in Preschoolers. Nutrients 2014, 6, 530-545. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6020530
AMA Style
Liu J, Hanlon A, Ma C, Zhao SR, Cao S, Compher C. Low Blood Zinc, Iron, and Other Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Behavior Problems in Preschoolers. Nutrients. 2014; 6(2):530-545. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6020530
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Jianghong, Alexandra Hanlon, Chenjuan Ma, Sophie R. Zhao, Siyuan Cao, and Charlene Compher. 2014. "Low Blood Zinc, Iron, and Other Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Behavior Problems in Preschoolers" Nutrients 6, no. 2: 530-545. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6020530
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