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Article
Urinary minerals excretion among primary schoolchildren in Dubai—United Arab Emirates
PLOS ONE
  • Rola Al Ghali, Zayed University
  • Carla El-Mallah, American University of Beirut
  • Omar Obeid, American University of Beirut
  • Ola El-Saleh, Imperial College London
  • Linda Smail, Zayed University
  • Dalia Haroun, Zayed University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-5-2021
Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Urinary excretion of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), iodine and fluoride is used to assess their statuses and/or the existence of metabolic abnormalities. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the urinary concentration of these minerals among children have not been documented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study, including 593 subjects (232 boys and 361 girls), was conducted among healthy 6 to 11-year-old Emirati children living in Dubai. Non-fasting morning urine samples and anthropometrical measurements were collected and analyzed. Results were expressed as per mg of creatinine (Cr). RESULTS: On average, estimated Cr excretion was 17.88±3.12 mg/kg/d. Mean urinary Ca/Cr, Mg/Cr and P/Cr excretions were 0.08±0.07 mg/mg, 0.09±0.04 mg/mg, and 0.57±0.26 mg/mg respectively. Urinary excretion of Ca, Mg and P were found to decrease as age increased. Urinary excretion and predicted intake of fluoride were lower than 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day. Surprisingly, more than 50% of the children were found to have urinary iodine excretion level above adequate. CONCLUSION: The Emirati schoolchildren had comparable levels of urinary Ca, Mg and P excretion to other countries. The 95% percentile allows the use of the current data as a reference value for the detection of mineral abnormalities. Fluoride excretion implies that Emirati children are at low risk of fluorosis. The level of urinary iodine excretion is slightly higher than recommended and requires close monitoring of the process of salt iodization to avoid the harmful impact of iodine overconsumption.

Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Scopus ID
85112623755
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
Citation Information
Rola Al Ghali, Carla El-Mallah, Omar Obeid, Ola El-Saleh, et al.. "Urinary minerals excretion among primary schoolchildren in Dubai—United Arab Emirates" PLOS ONE Vol. 16 Iss. 8 (2021) ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/2169-3536" target="_blank">2169-3536</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/linda-smail/16/