title: [Survey on vitamin A deficiency in children under-6-years in China].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand the prevalence and spatial distribution of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in China among children at ages under six years.
  
  
  METHODS
  About 8,600 children under 6 years of age in 14 cities and 28 counties of 14 provinces were selected with stratified cluster sampling for survey, including interview with questionnaire for their family information and nutritional status. Blood specimens were collected for measuring serum level of VA with fluorescent spectrophotometry in laboratory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally, 8,669 children under 6 (2,877 in urban area and 5,792 in rural area) were surveyed in 14 provinces, with 4,629 males and 4,040 females. Eight cases of night blindness and seven cases of xerophthalmia were found among the children at ages of two to five years. Sixty-one mothers of the children in this group were also found suffering from night blindness. All the cases of night blindness and xerophthalmia both in children and mothers were living in rural areas. Based on their serum levels of VA, 11.7% of the all 1 018 children were diagnosed as VAD, with serum VA concentrations below or equal to 0.70 micro mol/L. Prevalence of VAD was 15.0% and 5.8% in rural (23.3% in the poverty-stricken counties) and urban areas, respectively, and 5.8%, 11.5% and 16.8% in the coastal, inland and remote areas, respectively. The average serum level of VA was 1.20 micro mol/L and 0.99 micro mol/L for urban and rural areas, respectively, with a national average of 1.06 micro mol/L. And, babies under six months of age with an average serum levels of VA < or = 0.70 micro mol/L accounted for 33.4%, and those at ages of four to five years with the same level of VA accounted for 8%. There was significant difference in serum levels of VA between ages, but no significant difference between genders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VAD did exist in children of China, especially in the remote and poverty-stricken rural areas and VA supplementation is urgently needed for the children in these regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China.
authors.forename: Liangming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guanfu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Zangwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Xinli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jingxiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiaofang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Heru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009755:Night Blindness / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014985:Xerophthalmia / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A