title: Serum retinol levels of persons aged 4-74 years from three Hispanic groups.
abstract: Previous research suggests that Hispanics in this country may have poor vitamin A status. Using serum retinol data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we examined the vitamin A status of Mexican Americans (MA), Cubans, and Puerto Ricans (PR) aged 4-74 y. MA had lower mean serum retinol levels and higher prevalences of serum retinol in the range of 0.70-1.01 mumol/L than did Cubans in several age-sex groups. The prevalence (or percentage) of serum retinol in a range indicating possible risk of functional impairment was not elevated in any of the Hispanic groups except the females aged 18-44 y. However, a high percentage of children and adolescents in the three Hispanic groups had serum retinol values in ranges that might indicate less-than-optimal vitamin A status. Determination of vitamin A status requires a more definitive assessment than by serum vitamin A alone.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Examination Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD 20782.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Looker
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Underwood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A