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Selenium status and associated factors in a British National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged 4-18 y
C J Bates1, C W Thane, A Prentice
1MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Cambridge, UK. chris.bates@mrc-hnr.cam.ac.uk
Insights
This study established normal selenium levels in British youth, finding no deficiency or toxicity. Selenium status varied with age, gender, social class, ethnicity, and parental smoking habits.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Biochemistry
- Human Physiology
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) data from 1997 was utilized.
- The study focused on a representative sample of young people aged 4-18 years in mainland Britain.
- Commissioned by government health and agriculture departments, with further analysis supported by the Department of Health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish normative reference values for selenium status in British children and adolescents.
- To investigate socio-demographic factors influencing selenium levels in this population.
- To inform the assessment of selenium status in young people.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 1127 participants aged 4-18 years.
- Selenium status assessed via plasma selenium concentration, red blood cell (RBC) selenium concentration, and whole-blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity.
- Data collected from fasting blood samples.
Main Results:
- No evidence of severe selenium deficiency or toxicity was found.
- Plasma and RBC selenium concentrations increased with age and were correlated with GPx activity.
- Significant associations observed with gender (higher in older girls), region, parental social class (higher in advantaged groups), and ethnic background (higher in Black and Indian children).
- Lower selenium concentrations were noted in children with smoking parents, but not in children who smoked themselves.
Conclusions:
- Selenium status indices are influenced by a complex interplay of age, gender, social class, ethnicity, and parental smoking.
- These factors must be considered when interpreting selenium status in young people.
- The findings provide crucial reference data for nutritional assessment.
Objective:
Assessment of selenium status to provide normative reference values, and investigation of associated socio-demographic factors, in a national sample of British young people aged 4-18 y.
Setting:
National Diet and Nutrition Survey-a nationwide cross-sectional sample of young people aged 4-18 y living in mainland Britain in 1997.
Methods:
Selenium status was measured, mainly in fasting blood samples, by plasma selenium concentration in 1127 participants, by red blood cell (RBC) selenium concentration in 1112, and by whole-blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity in 658.
Results:
No evidence of severe selenium deficiency or toxicity was observed. Plasma selenium concentration was directly correlated with RBC selenium concentration, and both were associated directly, although less strongly, with GPx activity. Plasma and RBC selenium concentrations increased significantly with age, with RBC concentrations significantly higher in older girls than boys. Region of domicile exhibited a significant relationship. Associations also occurred with parental occupational social class, selenium concentrations being higher in more socially advantaged children. Black and Indian children had considerably higher concentrations than Caucasian children. Concentrations, especially of plasma selenium, were significantly lower in children either (or both) of whose parents were smokers, although, unexpectedly, there was no evidence that children who themselves smoked had lower levels.
Conclusions:
The observed associations between selenium status indices and age, gender, social class, parental smoking and ethnic group indicate a complex network of biological factors which determine selenium concentrations in blood components, and which thus need to be controlled for when using these indices to assess selenium status in young people.
Sponsorship:
The survey was commissioned jointly by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, whose responsibility has since been transferred to the Food Standards Agency. Support for the further analysis presented in this paper was provided by the Department of Health.
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