OBJECTIVE: To assess pre-school age children's vitamin A status in a population where protein-energy malnutrition is endemic and serum retinol binding protein and transtyretin concentrations are low. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Health district of Katana, South-Kivu, Zaire. SUBJECTS: 415 pre-school age children. METHODS: Three methods were used to assess vitamin A status: ophtalmological examination, retinol serum concentration and Relative Dose Response (RDR) test. RESULTS: The only ophthalmological signs of vitamin A deficiency appeared in two cases of night blindness, which represents a prevalence of 0.7%. Deficient serum retinol concentration (< 0.35 mumol/l) was found in 19.7% of the whole study population and in 10.4% of non-infected children in good nutritional status. RDR test carried out on a reduced sample of 79 subjects was abnormal for 7.6% of the children but showed a low sensitivity when compared with serum retinol concentration. CONCLUSION: This survey suggests that in this population of the South-Kivu Province in Zaire, vitamin A deficiency co-exists with protein-energy malnutrition and is a public health problem even with non-malnourished and non-infected children.
OBJECTIVE: To assess pre-school age children's vitamin A status in a population where protein-energy malnutrition is endemic and serum retinol binding protein and transtyretin concentrations are low. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Health district of Katana, South-Kivu, Zaire. SUBJECTS: 415 pre-school age children. METHODS: Three methods were used to assess vitamin A status: ophtalmological examination, retinol serum concentration and Relative Dose Response (RDR) test. RESULTS: The only ophthalmological signs of vitamin A deficiency appeared in two cases of night blindness, which represents a prevalence of 0.7%. Deficient serum retinol concentration (< 0.35 mumol/l) was found in 19.7% of the whole study population and in 10.4% of non-infected children in good nutritional status. RDR test carried out on a reduced sample of 79 subjects was abnormal for 7.6% of the children but showed a low sensitivity when compared with serum retinol concentration. CONCLUSION: This survey suggests that in this population of the South-Kivu Province in Zaire, vitamin A deficiency co-exists with protein-energy malnutrition and is a public health problem even with non-malnourished and non-infected children.
Authors: Sarah Harvey-Leeson; Crystal D Karakochuk; Meaghan Hawes; Pierrot L Tugirimana; Esto Bahizire; Pierre Z Akilimali; Kristina D Michaux; Larry D Lynd; Kyly C Whitfield; Mourad Moursi; Erick Boy; Jennifer Foley; Judy McLean; Lisa A Houghton; Rosalind S Gibson; Tim J Green Journal: Nutrients Date: 2016-02-17 Impact factor: 5.717