Pyridoxine status in preschool children in northeast Thailand: a community survey.

Pyridoxine status was investigated in four hundred and twenty-four village preschool children aged 1-60 months in Khon Kaen, and Nakorn Rachseema, Northeast Thailand using the erythrocyte aspartate aminotransferase (EAST) test and pyridoxal-5-phosphate activation coefficient (AC). Twenty-two percent of the children had pyridoxine deficiency, of which 15 percent had an AC greater than or equal to 3.37 and 7 percent had border-line deficiency (AC between 3.08-3.36). The prevalence of pyridoxine deficiency increased with age from 11 percent in the first year to 31 percent in the age range of 49-60 months.