Iron, zinc, copper and magnesium nutritional status in Mexican children aged 1 to 11 years

objective: to describe the micronutrient nutritional status of a national sample of 1-11 year old mexican children surveyed in 2006 in national health and nutrition survey (ensanut 2006) and their association with dietary and sociodemographic factors. materials and methods: serum samples were used (n=5 060) to measure the concentrations of ferritin, transferrin receptor, zinc, copper and magnesium. results: prevalence of deficiencies in 1-4 and 5-11y old children were for iron (using low ferritin) 26.0 and 13.0%; zinc, 28.1 and 25.8%, respectively; and copper, ≈30% in both age groups. magnesium low serum concentrations (mlsc), were found in 12.0% and 28.4% of the children, respectively. being beneficiary of liconsa (or=0.32; c.i.95%, 0.17-0.61) or belonging to higher socioeconomic status (or=0.63; c.i.95%, 0.41-0.97) were protective against iron deficiency. increasing age (or=0.59; c.i.95%, 1.19-1.32) and living in the central region (or=0.59; c.i.95%, 0.36-0.97) were protective against mlsc. conclusions: deficiencies of iron and zinc are serious public health problems in mexican children.