Iron Deficiency among School-Aged Adolescents in Hong Kong: Prevalence, Predictors, and Effects on Health-Related Quality of Life.

Iron deficiency (ID) is a prevalent nutritional deficiency affecting children/adolescents worldwide. We reported (1) the prevalence of ID and ID with anemia (IDA) among Chinese school-aged adolescents, (2) clinical and dietary predictors of iron status, and (3) its impact on health-related qualities of life (HRQoL). This cross-sectional study recruited 183 boys and 340 girls (mean age = 17.55) from 16 schools in Hong Kong. ID is defined as serum ferritin <15 µg/L. The participants reported their dietary habits, menstrual patterns (girls), and HRQoL using structured questionnaires. The overall prevalence of ID was 11.1%. None of the boys had ID or IDA. Among girls, the rate of ID was 17.1% and IDA was 10.9%. One-third (36.3%) reported a regular habit of skipping ≥1 meal/day. Lower ferritin was found in adolescents who skipped meals (Est = -35.1, p = 0.017). Lower ferritin is correlated with poorer school functioning (Est = 0.81, p = 0.045) and fatigue (Est = 0.92, p = 0.016). Skipping meals is associated with poorer physical (p = 0.0017) and school functioning (p = 0.027). To conclude, 1 in 10 school-aged adolescents in Hong Kong are iron-deficient. The ID rate in girls (17.1%) is similar to that in other industrialized countries (5.2-16.6%). Future work should promote awareness on the potential health consequences of poor dietary habits on ID and the well-being of adolescents.

Socioeconomic Gradient in Childhood Obesity and Hypertension: A Multilevel Population-Based Study in a Chinese Community.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess evidence for any socioeconomic gradients in childhood obesity and hypertension in a population-representative sample in Hong Kong, China. METHODS: The data of a stratified random sampled growth survey collected in 2005-2006 was matched with a population by-census. Obesity was defined using the International Obesity Task Force standard and hypertension was defined using the Hong Kong norm table. Family socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by maternal education level. Neighbourhood SES was measured by median household income of the neighbourhood. Multilevel Poisson regression models with robust standard error were used to test the association. Body mass indices of children's parents were included as potential confounders. Intra-school/neighbourhood correlations were adjusted using random factors. RESULTS: Totally 14842 children (age 6-19 years) included in the analysis, in which 16.6% of them were overweight or obese. Children whose mother only completed secondary school or below had higher risk of childhood obesity (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.13-1.76, p = 0.003) and hypertension (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.36, p = 0.03). Meanwhile, children in the lowest neighbourhood SES group had higher risk of childhood underweight (RR 1.61, 95% CI 1.04-2.49, p = 0.03), overweight (RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.05-1.72, p = 0.02), and obesity (RR 2.07, 95% CI 1.11-3.88, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity and hypertension existed in Hong Kong, one of the most developed cities in China. These results have implications for policymakers and public health experts and highlight the need to monitor trends in other parts of China.