According to the World Health Organization, over 2 billion people worldwide don’t get enough essential micronutrients like vitamin A and iron; most of them live in low- and middle-income countries (WHO, 2007). 

As a result, people—especially children—face a higher risk of health issues like stunted growth, developmental delays, and diseases such as diarrhea, measles, malaria, and pneumonia (WHO, 2007).

Several studies have found that antioxidant micronutrients, like vitamin A, are associated with longer telomeres (Nomura et al., 2017; Xu et al., 2009; Sen et al., 2014). One large U.S. study reported that people who took vitamin A supplements had longer telomeres in their white blood cells (Nomura et al., 2017). Another study on adult women found that higher levels of antioxidant micronutrients in the blood were associated with longer telomeres (Xu et al., 2009). These findings suggest that antioxidant micronutrients might help protect telomeres by reducing oxidative stress.

Micronutrients involved in DNA repair, like vitamins B9 and B12, are associated with longer telomeres. A study in Colombian children found that higher B12 levels were tied to longer telomeres (Flannagan et al., 2018), though a study in Nepal didn’t find the same effect in infants under one year old (Ulak et al., 2018).

On the other hand, higher iron levels are associated with shorter telomeres. A U.S. study found that adults with high blood ferritin (a marker of iron) had shorter telomeres (Liu et al., 2019), and a study in Rwanda showed that pregnant women with lower iron biomarkers had longer telomeres (Nsereko et al., 2020). Since iron can promote oxidative stress when levels are too high, it may contribute to telomere shortening (Fenech et al., 2023). Altogether, these findings suggest that while some micronutrients may help protect telomeres, others, like iron, might have the opposite effect.