(P30-012-25) A Comparative Study to Assess Vitamin B12 Levels in Malnourished Children 6–60 Months of Age From Rural and Urban Population

Objectives: A comparative study of Vitamin B12 levels in malnourished children (both Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM)) from urban and rural populations.

Methods: Patients were recruited from JSS Hospital Mysore, Karnataka when they came for a routine checkup. A complete history along with examination were taken to identify any clinical features if present. The patients were categorized into rural and urban population based on a detailed analysis of their background. Then an informed consent was obtained to draw 5ml of venous blood from the child to detect serum levels of Vitamin B12 using ECLIA method.

The normal range for Vitamin B12 is 197-771 pg/ml.

For the study a total of 146 samples were collected of which 71 were from the rural population and 75 belonged to the urban population. The children in the study were required to be 6-60 months of age, diagnosed with SAM or MAM and have not received any Vitamin B12 supplements or suffered from any underlying disease leading to B12 deficiency.

Furthermore, the children in the study were divided into subgroups based on their age. Five subgroups were formed with an interval of 6 months between them, to identify the age group most vulnerable to abnormal Vitamin B12 levels.

Results: After the study between the two populations, it was found that the children from rural areas were more likely to suffer from Vitamin B12 deficiency.

78%of rural population had B12 deficiency whereas only 21% of urban population had deficiency.

Among the 71 children from rural area:
63.3% suffered from severe malnutrition.
39.6% had moderate malnutrition.

And among the 75 children from urban areas:
60.4% suffered from moderate malnutrition.
36.4% from severe malnutrition.

The distribution of age across Vitamin B12 levels shows that children 6-12 months are more likely to have low Vitamin B12 levels, while older children 25-36 months are more likely to have higher B12 levels.

Conclusions: There is a prevalence of Vitamin B12 deficiency across all socio-economic classes, but children belonging to rural areas were more likely to suffer from micronutrient deficiency due to poor feeding practices and a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition. Furthermore, due to inadequate healthcare and nutritional interventions, the problem of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies remains unaddressed in rural populations.

Funding Sources: None