%0 Journal Article
%T Vitamin A status of healthy children in Manisa, Turkey
%A Nermin Tansu£¿
%A Muzaffer Polat
%A Selcan £¿e£¿me
%A Fatma Taneli
%A Salih G£¿zmen
%A £¿zlem Toku£¿o£¿lu
%A Dilek Y£¿lmaz
%A G£¿n¨¹l Din£¿
%J Nutrition Journal
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2891-9-34
%X Vitamin A status of 100 healthy children aged 36-48 months is evaluated. The children were seen during routine examination. Serum retinol concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Duration of breast feeding, age solid foods introduced, use of supplementary vitamins, weight and height, and intake of specific groups of nutrients on a daily, weekly and monthly basis were collected from a questionnaire completed by the mothers. Height and weight z-scores were calculated according to national standards. Mothers of 20 of the 100 children were known to have normal serum and breast milk retinol concentrations. Children with normal serum retinol concentration were compared with the children with VAD. Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney test were used to compare independent variables. The Pearson correlation analysis test was used to test relation between numeric variables.Mean retinol concentration was 0.98 ¡À 0.32 ¦Ìmol/L in the whole study group. Serum retinol concentrations were normal (>0.70 ¦Ìmol/L) in 89% of the children. When children with normal serum retinol concentrations were compared with those with retinol concentrations lower than 0.70 ¦Ìmol/L, there was no difference in terms of age, gender, weight and height at the time of study, z-scores, birth weight, birth length, duration of breast feeding, time to begin solid food, rate of supplementary vitamin use, and rate of infections (P > 0.05). There was not any relation between vitamin A concentrations and weight and height at the time of study, z-scores, birth weight, birth length, duration of breast feeding, time to begin solid food, vitamin use, and frequency of intake of specific groups of nutrients (P > 0.05).This study showed that VAD is a moderate health problem in Manisa.Vitamin A is a component of retinal pigments which has an important role in vision in dim light. It especially affects young children, among whom deficiency can cause xerophthalmia and lead to blindness, limit growt
%U http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/34