Vitamin A-rich porridge for Boarding Khalwa students with night blindness

Khalwa is a non-governmental boarding school specialized in teaching Quran to Sudanese children. Food supply to Khalwa is completely dependent on donations. Students are fed on low cost and low nutritional value diet made of sorghum flour porridge and a stew made of dry okra, onion and oil. The incidence of night blindness among these students is reported by the Nutrition Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan, in 2005 as 0.9%. In this study we interviewed and examined 453 Khalwa students in Umbada area, however blood sampling for assay of vitamin A level was not acceptable by the Khalwa authorities. Thirty four students (7.5%) showed clinical evidence of Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), 67.6% of them for a period of less than 6 months which was consistent with their stay in Khalwa. Vitamin A fortified sugar is used in Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Honduras but it is costly and sugar-containing foods and drinks are not in common use by Khalwa students. To supply students with a good amount of vitamin A, we prepared a new porridge formed of sorghum flour; peeled, chopped and boiled pumpkins in addition to their traditional stew. One meal per student contained 250 grams of sorghum flour and 125 grams of pumpkin which supplies 611μg (10891 I.U.) of vitamin A according to the USDA SR-25 composition tables (>100% Daily Value). Compared to the old porridge, there was significant differences (P <0.05) in vitamin A, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, fat, ash and moisture contents. All students accepted the taste of the new porridge and 91.2% agreed that it is not difficult to prepare. We conclude that adding pumpkins to Khalwa porridge is cost effective and may help preventing VAD and its deleterious effects on vision and health.