{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T21:11:00Z","timestamp":1781557860547,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,31]],"date-time":"2023-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Nestl\u00e9"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: To analyze the nutritional status and plasma levels of vitamins and minerals in a cohort of Chilean children between 4 and 14 years old from three cities in Chile (Santiago, Antofagasta, and Concepcion). Design: This is a descriptive analysis of micronutrient levels in Chilean children as it relates to obesity and food consumption. Setting: This study included 1235 children from schools in Santiago (central area), Antofagasta (northern area), and Concepcion (southern area) in Chile. Results: Plasma levels of micronutrients revealed deficiencies in children from all these cities. Copper (26.4%) and calcium (33.0%) deficiencies were found in the children from Antofagasta, whereas iron (26.7%) and zinc (20.8%) deficiencies were found in the children from Concepcion and Santiago, respectively. The percentage of children with vitamin D deficiencies was exceptionally high in all cities (over 78%). The analysis of micronutrients and nutritional status revealed that vitamin D deficiencies were significantly higher (p = 0.02) in overweight children, particularly in Antofagasta. In the analysis of the nutritional status of children and their food consumption habits, the proportion of overweight and obesity was significantly higher (p = 0.001) in children that skipped breakfast compared to children that did not. Finally, children from low socioeconomic levels were significantly more overweight and obese compared to children from high socioeconomic levels (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: this is the first study to describe plasma levels of micronutrients in Chilean children and adolescents. High percentages of obesity, overweight, and vitamin D deficiency were detected in children. These results are of significant relevance to future public health policies in Chile.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15071707","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,31]],"date-time":"2023-03-31T02:30:20Z","timestamp":1680229820000},"page":"1707","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Childhood Obesity and Plasma Micronutrient Deficit of Chilean Children between 4 and 14 Years Old"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4411-8655","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oscar","family":"Castillo-Valenzuela","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Nutrici\u00f3n y Diet\u00e9tica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago 7501015, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lissette","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Nutrici\u00f3n y Diet\u00e9tica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago 7501015, Chile"},{"name":"Laboratorio de Nutrigen\u00f3mica, Departamento de Nutrici\u00f3n, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6277-4090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Arredondo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Nutrici\u00f3n y Tecnolog\u00eda de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile, El L\u00edbano 5524, Santiago 8331051, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Germ\u00e1n","family":"I\u00f1iguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Materno Infantil (IDIMI), Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9603-937X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luis","family":"Villarroel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Salud P\u00fablica, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5660-5717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"P\u00e9rez-Bravo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Nutrigen\u00f3mica, Departamento de Nutrici\u00f3n, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile"},{"name":"Instituto de Nutrici\u00f3n y Tecnolog\u00eda de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile, El L\u00edbano 5524, Santiago 8331051, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2916","article-title":"Nutritional status and biochemical markers of deficiency or excess of micronutrients in 4 to 14 year-old chilean children: A critical review","volume":"32","author":"Rozowski","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nutr. 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