Korean J Pediatr.  2009 Feb;52(2):167-175. 10.3345/kjp.2009.52.2.167.

The effectiveness of biochemical indexes for evaluating the nutrition states of children

• Kim JK
• Jin HS
• Han MK
• Kim BS
• Cha CH
• Park KY

• KMID: 2281671
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3345/kjp.2009.52.2.167

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study has been conducted to analyze whether the biochemical nutrition indexes might be useful and effective for evaluating the nutrition states of children.
METHODS
We evaluated 269 children, aged 3-9 years old, who had visited Gangneung Asan Hospital for elective surgery from January 2006 to December 2007, and examined their anthropometric and preoperative laboratory data with retrospective analysis. The children were classified into underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese groups according to body mass index (BMI). The biochemical nutrition indexes (total lymphocyte count (TLC), hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum albumin, cholesterol, et al) of each group were then analyzed statistically.
RESULTS
None of the groups showed statistically significant differences in TLC. Serum albumin decreased significantly in the underweight group. Red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and serum total cholesterol in the obese group were higher than in the normal weight group. None of the groups showed statistically significant increase in mean corpuscular volume or mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and it seems that the increase of hemoglobin and RBC count in the overweight and obese groups is due to the enhancement of erythropoiesis rather than iron metabolism. However, in females, almost all nutrition indexes except albumin were statistically significantly poor.
CONCLUSION
Serum albumin, total cholesterol, RBC count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were useful as nutrition indexes. However, except for albumin, these indexes were significantly poor for females. More control studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of biochemical indexes for evaluating the nutritional state of children.

Keyword

Nutrition index; Nutrition assessment; Child; Body mass index; Total lymphocyte count

MeSH Terms

Aged
Body Mass Index
Child
Cholesterol
Erythrocyte Indices
Erythrocytes
Erythropoiesis
Female
Hematocrit
Hemoglobins
Humans
Iron
Lymphocyte Count
Nutrition Assessment
Overweight
Retrospective Studies
Serum Albumin
Thinness
Cholesterol
Hemoglobins
Iron
Serum Albumin