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Interventions and public health nutrition

Micronutrient status in Jordan: 2002 and 2010

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 1124–1128 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Two national surveys were conducted in Jordan in 2002 and 2010 to investigate the micronutrient status in women and children. To determine the prevalence of anemia, iron and folate deficiency among women and children in 2010 and compare with the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency in 2002.

Subjects/methods:

A nationally representative survey was conducted in 2002 (1023 women, 15–49 years of age; 1059 children, 12–59 months of age) and a second survey in 2010 (2035 women; 940 children). Venous blood samples were used to measure hemoglobin, ferritin and red blood cell folate (the latter on a subsample of 393 women).

Results:

Among women in 2010, the prevalence of folate deficiency and insufficiency was 13.6% and 82.9%, respectively. Geometric mean serum ferritin was higher in 2010 compared with 2002 (21.3 ng/ml vs 18.3, P=0.01); there was no significant change in the prevalence of iron deficiency (35.1% vs 38.7%, P=0.17), iron deficiency anemia (19.1% vs 20.0%, P=0.61) or anemia (29.2% vs 29.3%, P=0.96). Among children, a significantly lower prevalence was observed in 2010 compared with 2002 for iron deficiency (13.7% vs 26.2% P<0.001) and iron deficiency anemia (4.8% vs 10.1%, P<0.001); a nonsignificant lower prevalence was observed for anemia (16.6% vs 20.2%, P=0.09).

Conclusions:

In 2010, approximately one of seven women was folate deficient and six out of seven were folate insufficient for the prevention of neural tube defects. Between 2002 and 2010, significant improvement was observed in the prevalence of iron deficiency in children, but not in women.

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Acknowledgements

The 2010 survey was funded through a grant agreement between GAIN and the Government of Jordan Ministry of Health (MOH) and a Memorandum of Understanding between GAIN and the CDC. Additional support was provided by the UNICEF Jordan office. We would especially like to acknowledge Nadera Al-Shareff and Ruba Nabulsi for their help in the laboratory and lab technicians Gaia Alwahdan, Lamees Janineh and Shefa Saleh for their dedicated work. We acknowledge Adnan Ishaq and Mohammad Anees for their contributions during the early stage of survey preparations. Finally, we are grateful to Adel M Belbeisi, Usha Mandava, Wissam Qarqash, Nicolas Tsikhlakis and Barbara Macdonald for their invaluable support throughout the survey.

DISCLAIMER

The findings and conclusions of this report do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Author information

Author notes

  1. A Haddadin, I Khatib, T M Al-Sanouri, J Galvez, A Faqih and R D Whitehead: The Jordan Fortification Working Group members are listed before the references.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA

    M K Serdula, E K Nichols, N J Aburto & K M Sullivan

  2. Division of Nutrition, Epidemic Intelligence Service Program, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Physical Activity and Obesity, Atlanta, GA, USA

    E K Nichols & N J Aburto

  3. Department of Non-communicable Disease, Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan

    H Masa'd, M Tarawneh, R Barham & B Hijawi

  4. Department of Statistics, Amman, Jordan

    B Obaid

  5. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Geneva, Switzerland

    J Wirth

  6. GroundWork LLC, Crans-pres-Celigny, Switzerland

    J Wirth

  7. Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    K M Sullivan

Authors
  1. M K Serdula
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  2. E K Nichols
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  4. H Masa'd
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  7. M Tarawneh
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  8. R Barham
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  9. B Hijawi
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Consortia

the Jordan Fortification Working Group

  • A Haddadin
  • , I Khatib
  • , T M Al-Sanouri
  • , J Galvez
  • , A Faqih
  •  & R D Whitehead Jr

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M K Serdula.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

THE JORDAN FORTIFICATION WORKING GROUP A Haddadin1 I Khatib2 TM Al-Sanouri1 J Galvez3 A Faqih4 RD Whitehead Jr5 Affiliations 1 Laboratory Directorate, Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan 2 Department of Community Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan 3 Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA 4 Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan 5 Divsion of Laboratory Sciences, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA

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Serdula, M., Nichols, E., Aburto, N. et al. Micronutrient status in Jordan: 2002 and 2010. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 1124–1128 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.100

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