Hemoglogin concentration and hydroxyproline excretion of Head Start children in Montgomery County, Virginia

Abstract

A decrease in hemoglobin concentration is one of the last stages of physiologic alterations in iron-deficiency. To gain more information on the effect of the daily consumption of one nutritionally adequate meal by children from a low socio-economic status, hemoglobin concentration was measured on 5-to-7-year-old children and the ratio of urinary hyroxyproline to creatinine was calculated. The mean increase in hemoglobin values during the six-week period of the study was 0.24 g hemoglobin/10'() ml of blood. Initial and final hemoglobin values were all above 10 g/100 ml of blood with the exception of an initial hemoglobin concentration of 9.6 g/100 ml of blood for one subject. Twenty-four subjects had increases in hemoglobin concentration; the largest percentage of increases were by the girls and by the children weighing above 22 kg. Twenty-two subjects of the study gained weight. The girls showed a greater tendency to gain. Children within the slender classification of 10-20% below the average normal weight-height base line gained weight less rapidly as compared to those within or above the average normal weight-height base line. The subjects that lost weight either had no changes in hemoglobin concentration or an increase in hemoglobin levels. A larger percentage of the girls increased in height as compared to the boys. The shortest children averaged a decrease in hemoglobin concentration as compared to an increase by the tallest children. The average molar hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio at the end of the study was 0.12. The girls losing weight had a higher hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio as compared to the higher hydroxyproline to creatinine ratio for the boys gaining weight. The mean hydroxyproline index of the children in this study approximates the mean value of 3.0 reported for normal children of this age group.