The result of a 2013 research study on levels of micronutrients in the population indicates severe Vitamin A and D deficiency among Iranians. “Indices on iron and zinc levels on the other hand, show improvement in the past decade,” Dr. Fereydoun Siasi said.
Micronutrients are nutrients required by humans and other organisms throughout life in small quantities to orchestrate a range of physiological functions. For humans, they include dietary trace minerals in amounts generally less than 100 milligrams per day.
A faculty member of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Dr. Siasi is engaged in research projects in rural areas especially in Kerman, with the aim of integrating nutrition services. “Some aspects of the research in the outskirts of Kerman involved nutrition education for mothers,” he added, asserting that this educational project had helped reduce the number of low birth weight newborns, reported ISNA.
In a similar project in line with nutrition improvement plans, an educational package was implemented in three cities in collaboration with the Literacy Movement Organization (LMO). “Malnutrition and short stature of newborns can be ameliorated by educating mothers through literacy programs”, Siasi said, a well-known researcher recognized by the National Health Congress.
Siasi is also dean of the School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
The study was categorized in seven groups: infants 15-23 months old; and 6 year-olds, adolescents 12-20 years, pregnant women from the fifth month of pregnancy, and seniors in the 40-60 age group classified according to gender.
The results of the study revealed an overall deficiency in Vitamin A and D, while the stature of infants 15-23 months of age had improved. The study was a joint project between the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, ministry of health and medical education and other medical universities.
