Habitual consumption of vitamin a food sources by preschool children in rural areas in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Objective
The present study evaluated the habitual consumption of vitamin A food sources in preschool children in rural areas of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods
This is a cross sectional study that includes 337 preschool children which were evaluated through an interview conducted with their parents. The parameters evaluated were: a) socioeconomic characteristics of the family; b) use of the vitamin A supplementation provided by the government, c) habitual consumption of vitamin A food sources, assessed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire. Vitamin A food source consumption was classified as high/moderate or low, and it was associated to the socioeconomic variables using the Poisson regression model to calculate the prevalence odds ratio and the respective 95% confidence interval.

Results
Most children were from low income families. Only 51% of them had received at least 4 doses of vitamin A supplementation. The habitual consumption of vitamin A sources, assessed using the food frequency questionnaire, was considered high/moderate for only 75 children and low for 262 children. The low of consumption of vitamin A sources was associated with living on minimum wage (PR=1,178) and high consumption of sweets (PR=1,256).

Conclusion
The data obtained indicate that the children evaluated lack vitamin A supplementation provided by the government and show low consumption of foods high in vitamin; the former was associated with low-income status and high consumption of sweets.