Vitamin A status among women and chidren
The available data show that vitamin A deficiency appears to be a marginal problem among children and mothers in the dry savannah zone and the northwest of Nigeria.
  • Data from the NFCNS on vitamin A status of children under 5, mothers and pregnant women show that at the national level, 24.8% suffered from marginal deficiency and 4.7% suffered from severe deficiency. Therefore just under 30% were suffering from vitamin A deficiency. 
  • Deficiencies were highest in the dry savannah (31.3%). Marginal and severe deficiencies were similar in rural and urban areas.  Akinyele (2009) analyzed vitamin A status from the NFCNS by geopolitical zone and found that in the NW zone, 3% of under fives had clinical deficiency and 32% had marginal status.
  • In adults, mothers with a serum retinol concentration of <30ug/dl were considered as being at risk of vitamin A deficiency, and these were 13.1% of the national sample.  At the zonal level the highest prevalence of mothers at risk was in the dry savannah at 19.5%. Mothers with serum retinol concentration of <20 ug were considered as being vitamin A deficient: nationally these were 4.1% of the population.
  • Identical standards of deficiency were used for pregnant women: on this basis 19.2% were at risk of deficiency at the national level (being highest in the dry savannah (34.3%)) and 8.8% nationally were regarded as being vitamin A deficient.

 

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Nutritional Status in Northern Nigeria »Nutritional Status in Northern Nigeria
1. Nutritional status in Nigeria and the North »1. Nutritional status in Nigeria and the North
C. Micronutrient Status of Children and Mothers »C. Micronutrient Status of Children and Mothers
Vitamin A status among women and chidren
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