Serum Mineral Levels among Nepalese Living in the Southern Agricultural Terai Region.

Abstract

The physical status and serum mineral concentrations for people aged 10 to 68 years living in an agricultural southern region of Nepal were determined. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for both sexes in the 10-14 year age group were low (p<0.05, vs the other age groups) and those for the over 50-year-olds tended to be higher than the other age groups. The mean values of total proteins (TP) (8.6-0.5 g/dl for males and 8.7 • 0.6 g/dl for females) were high due to an increase of globulin (3.9 • 0.4 g/dl for males and 4.1 • 0.5 g/dl for females). More than three-fourths of the subjects of both sexes showed calcium (Ca) levels of 9.0-11.2 mg/dl and about 65% of them showed potassium (K) levels of 4.8-5.4 mEq/l. A significant positive correlation between DBP and serum K was observed (p<0.05). Serum inorganic phosphorus (IP) correlated with age (p<0.001) and body mass index (BMI) (p<0.001). The serum Ca levels correlated with TP (r=0.31, p<0.001), albumin (Alb) (r=0.50, p<0.001), IP (r=0.31, p<0.001), K (r=0.32, p<0.001) and chlorine (C1)(r=-0.37, p<0.001). CI was associated with TP (r=-0.21, p<0.05), Alb (r=-0.36, p<0.001) and IP (r=-0.21, p<0.05). These results suggested that Ca intake for the subjects seemed to be insufficient although their serum Ca level was within normal.

Serum Nutritional Components and Dietary Food Intake of People Living in a Remote Hilly Village in Eastern Nepal

“…The mean SBP and DBP for males in both areas, A and B, ranged from 84 Ϯ 8 to 127 Ϯ 9 and from 60 Ϯ 9 to 81 Ϯ 11 mmHg, respectively, whereas those for females ranged from 93 Ϯ 10 to 128 Ϯ 19 and from 57 Ϯ 17 to 86 Ϯ 13 mmHg, respectively. These values of SBP and DBP seemed to be lower than those reported for Nepalese earlier [ 4 ], for adults 30-65 years old [ 11 ], and rural Japanese 40 years of age or older [ 12 ]. The age-specific mean values of SBP and DBP increased with age (SBP, r ϭ 0.436 for males and r ϭ 0.524 for females; DBP, r ϭ 0.470 for males and r ϭ 0.408 for females, p Ͻ 0.001 for all).…”

“…High-carbohydrate and low-fat and -protein diets plus poor eating habits may have caused the rather high serum TG of the subjects. Meats contain protein, minerals and vitamins and are important food as one of protein source, but the amount of meat intake was very low, the same as in other districts reported previously [4,24]. Consumption of alcoholic beverages correlated with energy (rϭ0.206, pϽ0.01) and niacin (rϭ0.657, pϽ0.001).…”

“…The mean values of TP and Alb of the subjects in each age group in both areas were within the ranges considered normal for Japanese (TP, 6.5-7.9 g/dl, Alb, 4.0-5.0 g/dl for combined sexes) [ 13 ]. The TP level of the subjects in this study was about the same as that for the residents in Itahari district, Terai region [8], but to be lower than that of people in an agricultural Chitwan district, Terai region, Nepal [14]. The BUN and UA levels were within the ranges normal for Japanese (BUN, 8-20 mg/dl, for both sexes; UA, 4.0-7.5 mg/dl for males, 3.0-6.5 for females) [13].…”

“…Malnutrition is major public health problem in Nepal [1][2][3][4][5][6] and is aggravated by highly prevalent infectious disease [ 6 ]. In view of this situation, we studied the health and sanitary status in Boya Village Development Committee (VDC), Bhojpur district, Nepal in 1996 and 1997, and suggested a great need for educational and promotional activities with regard to public health and sanitation [ 7 ].…”

Serum protein and immunoglobulin levels among nepalese living in southern Nepal

“…We have been conducting nutritional surveys in Nepal for more than a decade and have found their food intake to be generally sufficient (1-3) although there was a latent deficiency of calcium and iron (4,5).…”