Dietary practices and xerophthalmia among Indonesian children

The stated frequency with which 30 Indonesian children with corneal xerophthalmia and age/sex/neighborhood matched controls ordinarily consumed vitamin- and provitamin A-rich foods was compared. Controls were more frequent consumers of eggs (p less than 0.05), fish (p less than 0.05), dark green leafy vegetables (p less than 0.05), carrots (p less than 0.01), and carotene-containing fruits (p less than 0.1). Similar data were collected on 358 children with Bitot's spots and on normal preschool age children in a countrywide survey. Breast-feeding was more common among normals than among cases (p less than 0.001). Normals were also more frequent consumers of mango and papaya during the 2nd and 3rd yr of life (p less than 0.05); and of dark green leafy vegetables and eggs during the 3rd through 6th yr of life (p less than 0.01). In two separate studies, differences in carotene consumption by normals and abnormals were confirmed by differences in their serum carotene levels. Approximately 80% of Indonesian families, with an without xerophthalmic children, consumed dark-green leafy vegetables at least once a day, and 99% at least once a week. Diet therefore appears to be an important factor in the genesis of xerophthalmia in Indonesia despite the availability of suitable provitamin A-rich foods.