Fortified foods contribute one half of recommended vitamin A intake in poor urban Guatemalan toddlers.
Vitamin A intake from food sources, not including breast milk, was determined from seven consecutive 24-h recalls for 55 children (mean age 20.8 mo, SD 8.9) from two poor communities of Guatemala City. Not including vitamin A derived from fortified sugar or breast milk, the median daily vitamin A intake was 194 retinol equivalents (RE). Including vitamin A derived from fortified sugar but not including that derived from breast milk, the median total vitamin A intake (25th and 75th percentiles) was 338 RE (146 and 617 RE) of which 78% was preformed retinol and 22% provitamin A. More than 90% of total vitamin A intake from non-breast milk food sources was derived from only 10 items; over half came from three fortified foods: fortified sugar, Incaparina and margarine. Sugar samples from 91 households in 1991 had a median of 3.3 RE/g (range, 0.0-29.9 RE/g), <25% of the target level (13-17 RE/g); nevertheless, fortified sugar provided 25% of these children's total vitamin A intake (81 RE/d) from non-breast milk food sources and their intake approached the level recommended by the FAO/WHO (400 RE/d). These results show that fortified foods make an important contribution towards vitamin A intake in this sample of poor urban Guatemalan toddlers.
Krause
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Département de Nutrition, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 Succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 3J7. vivianmk@indo.net.id
Delisle
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Solomons
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NW
D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000009:adverse effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015930:Diet Records; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006166:Guatemala; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage
D019207:beta Carotene; D014801:Vitamin A