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Dietary intervention to control vitamin A deficiency in seven- to twelve-year-old children
Methods: The efficacy of a dietary intervention programme to control vitamin A deficiency through inexpensive, locally available sources of beta -carotene was evaluated in 121 children 7 to 12 years old. Subjects were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. A 3-day food intake was first recorded for each subject using a 24-h recall method and repeated at the end of the study on a randomly selected subsample. The intervention period lasted 1 month, during which carrots, papayas, coriander and mint were offered daily as sources of beta -carotene. There was no significant difference in the dietary intakes of the groups before the study.
Results: After the intervention period, the serum vitamin A values of the experimental subjects were significantly higher than those of the controls. These results indicate that consumption of small amounts of inexpensive, readily available vegetable sources of beta -carotene could help prevent and control vitamin A deficiency. Nutrition education programmes are needed to encourage the use of these foods for home consumption as well as in feeding programmes for schoolchildren.