Vitamin A status of low and normal birth weight infants at birth and in early infancy.

Serum retinol levels of low birth weight (LBW; birth weight < 2500 g) and normal birth weight (NBW; birth weight ≥ 2500 g) infants were evaluated at birth and 3 months using high performance liquid chromatography. At birth, levels were 13.3 ± 8.2 ug/dL in LBW (n=146) and 14.0 ± 6.2 ug/dL in NBW infants (n = 79; p = 0.51), with 41.1% of LBW and 24.1% of NBW infants having vitamin A deficiency (VAD, < 10 ug/dL; P = 0.01). At follow up, levels were 18.0 ± 9.4 ug/dL in LBW (n = 83) and 20.0 ± 7.3 ug/dL in NBW infants (n = 51; P = 0.19), with 18.1% of LBW and 3.9% of NBW infants having VAD (P = 0.02).