All issues > Volume 52(2); 2009

Original Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2009;52(2):167-175. Published online February 15, 2009.

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

Jae Kwang JK Kim¹, Hyun Seong HS Jin¹, Myung Ki MK Han¹, Bong Seong BS Kim¹, Choong Hwan CH Cha², Kie Young KY Park¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ulsan University, Gangneung Asan Hospital, Gangneung, Korea
²Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Ulsan University, Gangneung Asan Hospital, Gangneung, Korea

Correspondence Kie Young KY Park ,Email: drped@naver.com

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.

Keywords :Nutrition index, Nutrition assessment, Child, Body mass index, Total lymphocyte count