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Rickets is common in impoverished Tehran children, often linked with infections and severe underweight. Malnutrition can mask rickets signs and affect biochemical diagnoses in young children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nutritional Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Rickets is a significant pediatric skeletal disorder.
- Socioeconomic factors influence rickets prevalence.
- Malnutrition can complicate disease presentation and diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence and characteristics of rickets in children from lower socioeconomic classes in Tehran.
- To explore the association between rickets, malnutrition, and common childhood illnesses.
- To assess the impact of malnutrition on the clinical and biochemical diagnosis of rickets.
Main Methods:
- Radiological diagnosis of rickets.
- Clinical assessment of nutritional status (underweight).
- Observation of associated conditions (gastroenteritis, bronchopneumonia).
- Serum calcium and alkaline phosphatase level measurements.
- Analysis of rickets presentation in malnourished versus well-nourished children.
Main Results:
- Rickets was prevalent in poorer children in Tehran.
- Rickets frequently co-occurred with gastroenteritis and bronchopneumonia.
- A high proportion of affected children were severely underweight.
- Malnutrition masked rickets signs in children under one year.
- Malnourished children showed higher serum calcium and lower alkaline phosphatase levels, and fewer convulsions.
Conclusions:
- Rickets is a common problem in socioeconomically disadvantaged children in Tehran.
- Malnutrition significantly impacts the clinical and biochemical diagnosis of rickets.
- Biochemical markers for rickets diagnosis are unreliable in malnourished children.
Abstract:
Radiologically diagnosed rickets was found to be common in children of the poorer classes in Tehran. It was frequently associated with gastroenteritis or bronchopneumonia and a large proportion of the children were severely underweight for their age. In children below the age of 1 year malnutrition tended to mask the signs of rickets. Convulsions were much less frequent in the malnourished children; the concentration of calcium in the serum was higher and that of alkaline phosphatase was lower than in those who were well nourished. Biochemistry is of little value in the diagnosis of rickets in the presence of malnutrition.