Vitamin A status of young children in Southern Brazil

A comprehensive survey was carried out to assess the vitamin A status of preschool children of poor migrant families in the periurban population of Ribeirao Preto, a typical agricultural town in the sugarcane and coffee region of the State of Sao Paulo in Southern Brazil. The intake of vitamin A and carotenoids from the rice and bean based diet of these children is considered low and appears to influence blood concentrations and liver reserves of this vitamin. With respect to plasma vitamin A, 1.8% of the children had a deficient level (less than 10 micrograms%), whereas 48.8% of the children had a low level (less than 20 micrograms%). Most children with inadequate plasma vitamin A (less than 20 micrograms%) responded positively to a massive dose of 200,000 IU vitamin A, suggesting that these children may be at risk of having low liver stores of vitamin A. Rose Bengal staining test and rapid dark adaptation time did not indicate definite signs of conjunctival xerosis and night blindness among these children. No ocular evidence of hypovitaminosis A was found in the children studied, but marginal or inadequate vitamin A status appears to be a common public health problem among young children in this region of Brazil.