{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T17:38:33Z","timestamp":1777570713902,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,27]],"date-time":"2014-06-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1403827200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Public Health Nutr."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs1\" sec-type=\"general\"><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>deficiency is associated with many adverse health outcomes and is highly prevalent worldwide. The present study assesses the prevalence of vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>deficiency and marginal deficiency in Colombian children and women and examines the sociodemographic correlates of serum vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>concentrations in these groups.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs2\" sec-type=\"general\"><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>Cross-sectional, nationally representative survey.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs3\" sec-type=\"general\"><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>Colombia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs4\" sec-type=\"subjects\"><jats:title>Subjects<\/jats:title><jats:p>Children &lt;18 years old (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>7243), pregnant women (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>1781), and non-pregnant women 18\u201349 years old (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>499).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs5\" sec-type=\"results\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The overall prevalence of vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>deficiency (serum vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>&lt;148 pmol\/l) and marginal deficiency (serum vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>=148\u2013221 pmol\/l) was, respectively, 6\u00b76 % (95 % CI 5\u00b72 %, 8\u00b73 %) and 22\u00b75 % (95 % CI 21\u00b71 %, 23\u00b79 %). Pregnant women had the highest prevalence of deficiency (18\u00b79 %; 95 % CI 16\u00b76 %, 21\u00b75 %) compared with non-pregnant adult women (18\u00b75 %; 95 % CI 4\u00b74 %, 53\u00b71 %) and children (2\u00b78 %; 95 % CI 2\u00b73 % %, 3\u00b73 %). In multivariable analyses among children, mean serum vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>was positively associated with female sex (12 pmol\/l higher compared with males;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>=0\u00b7004), secondary or higher education of the household head (12 pmol\/l higher compared with primary or less;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>=0\u00b7009) and food security (21 pmol\/l higher compared with severe food insecurity;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>=0\u00b7003). In multivariable analyses among pregnant women, mean serum vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>was positively associated with education of the household head and inversely associated with living in the National territories, Eastern or Pacific regions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S1368980014001141_abs6\" sec-type=\"conclusions\"><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>The prevalence of vitamin B<jats:sub>12<\/jats:sub>deficiency and marginal deficiency in Colombian women and children is substantial. The burden falls largely on adult women, those with lowest education and those living in the poorest, most rural regions of the country.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1017\/s1368980014001141","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,27]],"date-time":"2014-06-27T12:04:38Z","timestamp":1403870678000},"page":"836-843","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["<b>Vitamin B<\/b><sub><b>12<\/b><\/sub><b>serostatus in Colombian children and adult women: results from a nationally representative survey<\/b>"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Oscar F","family":"Herr\u00e1n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Julia 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