Nutritional factors and growth in children with sickle cell disease
A. C. Finan, M. A. Elmer, S. R. Sasanow, S. McKinney, M. O. Russell and F. M. Gill
Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.
A study of growth and nutrition was conducted with 20 growth-retarded (GR)
and 20 growth-normal (GN) preadolescent children with sickle cell disease
(SCD). All children were matched for age, sex, hemoglobin disorder, and
hematologic values. Ten normal children served as control subjects. Mean
serum levels of retinol, retinol-binding protein, prealbumin, and zinc were
significantly lower in the children with SCD than in normal children. Mean
serum retinol and prealbumin levels were similar in the GR and GN sickle
cell groups. Mean serum retinol-binding protein levels were lower in GR
than in GN patients. Serum zinc levels, somatomedin C levels, and bone age
were frequently abnormal in the patients with SCD, but these factors did
not correlate with growth status. It was not possible to explain the poor
growth in patients with SCD in this study solely on the basis of
nutritional factors.
