Objectives
To assess zinc, iron, vitamin A status in children 6 to 60 months and pregnant women in two Moroccan regions
Methods
To achieve our goals, 75 pregnant women and 148 children were evaluated using the dietary recall method 24 hours.
Results
The main results show that the median age of children was 22.5 months, 75.0% of them have an exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months. 92% of pregnant women aged between 20 and 40 years, 41.3% of them are in the second quarter, 32% in Q1 and 26.7% in Q3. More than two third of children have an inadequateironintake. 43.8% of children have vitamin A intake below the recommended requirements. More than 77.8% of children have a zinc intake below the recommended requirements. Most pregnant women have an inadequate iron intake and 42.7% of them have a zinc intake below the recommended requirements. Vitamin A intake is insufficient in 30.7% of pregnant women. In children group with phytate / zinc molar ratio greater than 15 stunting affects 18.2% of them.
Conclusions
Inadequate zinc intake probably contributes to stunting situation in Morocco. Currently there is childrens program supplementation and foods fortification with zinc in Morocco
