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Background/ Objective: The potential impact of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has attracted much interest in recent years. This study was an exploratory one aimed to assess vitamin D status among a small random sample of Egyptian pregnant women and their newborns, and to evaluate its effect on pregnancy outcome. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 45 mothers and their newborns. Venous blood obtained from the mothers and from the cord blood to assess serum 25hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D), human Parathormone (hPTH) and serum calcium and phosphorus.

BACKGROUND: Population of South Sinai has suffered from negligence for many years. Solving educational problems of this population is the main concern nowadays.AIM: To assess academic achievement in primary school children in South Sinai in relation to intelligence and psychosocial profile.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted on 407 Bedouin and urban students randomly selected from twelve public primary schools in six cities in South Sinai. Intelligence was assessed using Goodenough-Harris test. The midyear Arabic language and Arithmetic scores were used to assess academic achievement. The teachers completed a Pediatric-Symptom Checklist for evaluation of children behaviour.RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in academic achievement (P < 0.001), total psychosocial scores, (P < 0.05), and externalization (P < 0.05) was found between urban and Bedouin students with significant gender differences (P < 0.05). Highly significant positive correlations were observed between IQ percentile and mid-year Arabic language scores and Arithmetic scores (P < 0.001), and significant negative correlations with the total score of PSCL and its subscale scores (externalising, inattention, and internalising behaviour) (P < 0.001) among the students.CONCLUSION: Comorbid academic and psychosocial dysfunction in primary school children were observed in South Sinai. A national strategy to minimise the educational gap between Bedouin and urban areas should be implemented.

Objective. To assess the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D status among a sample of Egyptian schoolchildren and to evaluate predictors of deficiency and insufficiency.Subjects and Methods. A cross-sectional study comprising 200 prepubescent schoolchildren aged from 9 to 11 years was performed. A questionnaire including frequency of midday sun exposure, milk intake, physical activity, and level of maternal education was taken. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated; serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], serum calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone were measured.Results. Vitamin D deficiency [serum 25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL] was detected in 11.5% of subjects while its insufficiency (serum 25(OH)D is between 20 and 29.9 ng/mL) was detected in 15%. Results revealed that obesity, low physical activity, low sun exposure, and low maternal education level are significant predictors of insufficiency, though female gender, low maternal education level, and low milk intake are significant predictors of deficiency. Lower serum phosphorus and higher serum parathyroid hormone were significantly associated with both deficiency and insufficiency (p<0.05).Conclusion. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are common among schoolchildren in Egypt. Food fortification, vitamin D supplementation, and increasing maternal awareness about the importance of physical activity and exposure of their children to ultraviolet light may help to overcome this problem.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between simple anthropometric parameters (body mass index, waist circumference, waist to stat- ure ratio and sum of skinfolds thickness) with cardiovascular risk factors (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein choles- terol, triglycerides, atherogenic index, fasting blood glucose, serum insulin level, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) in obese and non-obese Egyptian children. The results showed that all anthropometric indices were positively correlated with all examined cardiovascular risk factors and negatively correlated with HDL-C. Obese children were significantly more likely to have two or more risk factors than non-obese participants. In obese children, the most prevalent CVD risk factors were hypertriglyceridemia (90%), followed by high LDL-C (76.6%) and low HDL-C (56.6%). The results indicated that obese children are at great risk for developing CVD. BMI and WSR are the best indices predicting CVD risk factors.

Objective: Comparison between the effect of monotherapy and polytherapy on cognitive functions and growth measurements among epileptic adolescents. Methods: This study was carried on 57 adolescents from those with antiepileptics either monotherapy or polytherapy, in comparison with 20 controls. All were exposed to full neurological examination, Psychometric studies using Revised Behavior Problem Checklist “RBPC”, anthropometric measurements including height, weight, estimation of blood haemoglobin “Hb” , serum levels of copper and zinc. Results: We found that 29 cases were with monotherapy and 28 cases were with polytherapy. Scores of RBPC revealed that conduct disorders, socialized aggression and social anxiety withdrawn scales, showed significant increase in epileptic adolescents in comparison with controls which is more in cases with polytherapy, with higher frequency in distractability and restlessness in those with monotherapy. Those with polytherapy showed high frequency in depression and psychomotor retardation. Levels of heamoglobin, copper, and zinc was statistically decreased among epileptics, more with Polytherapy. There was increase in weight and BMI with monotherapy while there was decrease in weight and BMI with polytherpy as compared with controls. Conclusion: Epileptic patients with monotherapy scored better cognitive functions, than those with polytherapy. So we recommend monotherapy in treatment of epilepsy for better cognitive functions.