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Population-based data relating to vitamin D status of children in Northeast Asia are lacking. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and determinants of vitamin D deficiency in 9595 schoolchildren aged 6–13 years in Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital city of Mongolia. Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency were collected by questionnaire, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations were measured using an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay, standardized and categorized as deficient (25[OH]D

Household consumption and expenditure surveys are frequently conducted around the world and they usually include data on household food consumption, but their applicability to nutrition research is limited by their collection at the household level. Using data from Mongolia, this study evaluated four approaches for estimating diet from household surveys: direct inference from per-capita household consumption, disaggregation of household consumption using a statistical method and the &ldquo, adult male equivalent&rdquo, method, and direct prediction of dietary intake. Per-capita household consumption overestimated dietary energy in single- and multi-person households by factors of 2.63 and 1.89, respectively. Performance of disaggregation methods was variable across two household surveys analyzed, while the statistical method exhibited less bias in estimating intake densities (per 100 kcal) of most dietary components in both of the surveys. Increasingly complex prediction models explained 54% to 72% of in-sample variation in dietary energy, with consistent benefits incurred by inclusion of basic dietary measurements. In conclusion, in Mongolia and elsewhere, differences in how household and dietary measurements are recorded make their comparison challenging. Validity of disaggregation methods depends on household survey characteristics and the dietary components that are considered. Relatively precise prediction models of dietary intake can be achieved by integrating basic dietary assessment into household surveys.

This prospective study evaluated the relationship between long-term dietary habits and total arsenic (As) concentration in toenail clippings in a cohort of 1616 pregnant women in the Bangladeshi administrative regions of Sirajdikhan and Pabna Sadar. Diet was assessed at Gestation Week 28 and at Postpartum Month 1, using a locally-validated dish-based semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Toenail As concentration was analyzed by microwave-assisted acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Associations between natural log-transformed consumption of individual food items and temporally matched natural log-transformed toenail As concentration were quantified using general linear models that accounted for As concentration in the primary drinking water source and other potential confounders. The analysis was stratified by As in drinking water (≤50 μg/L versus >50 μg/L) and the time of dietary assessment (Gestation Week 28 versus Postpartum Week 1). Interestingly, toenail As was not significantly associated with consumption of plain rice as hypothesized. However, toenail As was positively associated with consumption of several vegetable, fish and meat items and was negatively associated with consumption of rice, cereal, fruits, and milk based food items. Further studies in pregnant women are needed to compare As metabolism at different levels of As exposure and the interaction between dietary composition and As absorption.

Many factors put Mongolians at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Despite low levels observed in Mongolian children and pregnant women, there are few data published on the vitamin D status of non-pregnant adults. Between summer 2011 and winter 2013, paired summer and winter blood samples were collected from 320 healthy men and women (20–58 years) living in eight Mongolian provinces. Mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations were 22.5 ng/mL (95% CI: 14.5, 32.5) in summer and 7.7 ng/mL (95% CI: 4.6, 10.8) in winter, with a distribution (