Vitamin A intake and status.
OBJECTIVE
To review the methodology for vitamin A intake and status assessment and to discuss available data on vitamin A intake and status in the Netherlands.


CONCLUSIONS
For diagnosis of a deficient vitamin A status, a number of valid biochemical and functional tests and criteria for interpretation are available. However, the sensitivity and specificity of most tests for assessment of the vitamin A status in the suboptimal and/or marginal range seem troublesome. The average vitamin A intake in the Netherlands (adult men 830 RE; adult women 650 RE) is slightly below the Dutch RDA (men 1000 RE; women 800 RE. In particular, individuals avoiding liver and liver products have lower intakes and might have limited stores. The functional significance of these findings remains to be established.
van den Berg
H
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TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, Zeist, Netherlands.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*
D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; D014801:Vitamin A