Evaluation of the relationship between growth status and dietary intake in 10 children with thalassemia major

Introduction: Thalassemia major is the most common inheritable disease in Iran with high prevalence in Fars province. Growth retardation is prevalent in this patients, mainly due to malnutrition. The aim Goal of this study was to determine the relationship between growth status and nutritional intake. Patients under 10 years old with thalassemia major. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 62 below ten years old thalassemic children were selected with systematic sampling. Growth status were determined based on WHZ and HAZ and nutritional intake by 3 times 24h Food recall and analysed with Food Processor software. Statistic analysis was performed using Pearson correlation. Results: 13.1%, 9.8% and 3.3 % of children had mild, moderate and sever degrees of wasting, respectively. 43.5 % , 17.7 % and 3.2 % showed mild, moderate and severe degrees of stunting. Wasting was more prevalent in younger children and stunting was more prevalent in older children. Calorie, carbohydrate, vitamins A, C and E, zinc and iron intake were significantly lower than references. A reverse relationship (P<0.05) was found between calorie and carbohydrate intake and wasting, however but none of the nutrients showed any relationship with stunting. Conclusion: Growth retardation and nutritional deficiencies were prevalent in these patients and a nutritious diet could improve growth, specially in lower ages.