Copyright
Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh and Alexa MeyerPublished On
2023-01-09Page Range
pp. 53–62Language
- English
2.3 Micronutrient Deficiencies
The issue of micronutrient status and deficiencies in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is discussed, the focus being on anaemia as the main symptom of iron deficiency, iodine status as well as zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, folate and vitamin B12. While the status of iodine has improved in recent years, not least due to efficient salt iodization programmes, the prevalence of anaemia is high in the region, especially in children, women of child-bearing age and pregnant women, and even though data about the status of other micronutrients is less abundant, there is evidence that deficiencies of zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, folate and, to a lesser extent, vitamin B12 are also common.
Contributors
Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh
(author)Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh is an international expert in nutrition and the author of more than 150 publications and books on nutrition, food systems and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). He has worked with the World Health Organization as a Regional Adviser in Nutrition in the Eastern Mediterranean Region since 2009, and prior to that he was a leading member of the United Nations World Food Programme for 20 years, focusing on countries including Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Malawi, and Iraq. In his work he manages multiple international executive functions, including nutrition policies and strategies, research and capacity-building programmes that address the double burden of malnutrition, including maternal and child nutrition, diet-related risk factors for non-communicable diseases, and nutrition for emergencies in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Alexa Meyer
(author)Alexa L. Meyer graduated with a PhD in nutritional sciences and worked as a scientific assistant at the University of Vienna, Austria, contributing to the European Nutrition and Health Report 2009, the Austrian Nutrition Report 2012, and the Palestinian Micronutrient Survey 2013 in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of the State of Palestine. She is also the author or co-author of several scientific papers, book chapters, and books on nutritional immunology, food composition as well as public health nutrition. Currently, she works at the Geriatric Care Hospital "Haus der Barmherzigkeit" in Vienna.