INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VITAMIN-A, IODINE AND IRON STATUS IN SCHOOLCHILDREN IN SHOA REGION, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

A total of 14740 schoolchildren in seven provinces of Shoa Administrat ive Region in Central Ethiopia were surveyed for the prevalence of goi tre, xerophthalmia and anaemia. Haemoglobin and packed cell volume wer e assessed in 966 children in one province while an in-depth study was conducted on 344 children in the same province and two others. Goitre , xerophthalmia (Bitot's spots) aod clinical anaemia were observed in 34.2, 0.91 and 18.6% respectively of the children. Most biochemical va riables were within the normal range while those of haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular Hb concentration (MCHC) and urinary I excretion were lower, and mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular Hb (MCH), and imm unoglobulins G and M were higher. Hb was strongly correlated with reti nol, ferritin, MCHC, MCH, packed cell volume and erythrocyte count whi le retinol formed a triad with transthyretin (TTR) and retinol-binding protein (RBP) which were all correlated with one another. Total and f ree thyroxin and total and free triiodothyronine were positively corre lated as were the concentrations of the total and free hormones. Thyro tropin (TSH) was negatively correlated with total and free thyroxin an d positively correlated with free triiodothyronine. Thyroxin and triio dothyronine in both free and combined forms were all correlated with t hyroxin-binding globulin which in turn was negatively correlated with the triad retinol, RBP and TTR. The triad was also negatively correlat ed with C-reactive protein. Urinary I excretion was positively associa ted with total thyroxin and negatively associated with TSH. The anaemi a found was not nutritional in origin but due to the effect of infesta tion with intestinal parasites and malaria.