Vitamin A deficiency in school children of the rural area in Minas Gerais, Brazil
Keywords:
causality, Vitamin A deficiency, school childrenAbstract
Objective
The objective of this study was to verify the occurrence of vitamin A deficiency in school children of the rural
area of Novo Cruzeiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as to identify the possible predisposing factors for such
occurrence.
Methods
The sample comprised 241 school children, ranging from 6 to 14 years of age, from four rural schools of the
region. The serum levels of retinol were interpreted by the criteria of the Interdepartmental Committee on
Nutrition National Defense. The epidemiological significance of the vitamin A deficiency was evaluated according
to the World Health Organization criteria. As predisposing factors for vitamin A deficiency, the following
conditions were considered: intestinal parasitism, protein-energy malnutrition, inadequate ingestion of vitamin
A food sources, and per capita family income. Statistical analysis was carried out using Chi-square test.
Results
Vitamin A deficiency was identified in 29.0% of the subjects, 23.2% of the children presented stunting, and
8.7% were malnourished, according to the body mass index. In 63.1% of the subjects, inadequate ingestion
of retinol sources was verified, while 78.8% of the subjects presented some type of intestinal parasite. Most
school-children families (87.1%) had per capita monthly incomes bellow ¼ of the minimum wage; the rest of
the families were situated respectively in the ranges: (10.4%)>¼ to ≤½ minimum wage; (2.1%) >½ to ≤1
minimum wage; and ( 0.4 %) >1 minimum wage.
Conclusion
Vitamin A deficiency among school children was found to be a public health problem in the studied area.
Nonetheless, no significant statistic association between vitamin A deficiency and the factors selected as
predisposing ones was observed.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Margarete Aparecida SANTOS, Eliane Garcia REZENDE, Joel Alves LAMOUNIER, Márcio Antônio Moreira GALVÃO, Élido BONOMO, Romário Cerqueira LEITE
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