title: Vitamin A inadequacy observed in a group of 2- to 6-year-old children living in Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
abstract: Dietary intakes and plasma concentrations of retinol and carotenoids were estimated in assessing the vitamin A status of young children in Kwangju, Republic of Korea. Three consecutive 24-hour food recalls and fasting blood samples were obtained from 123 healthy children (58 boys, 65 girls), aged 2-6 years. The daily vitamin A intake (mean +/- SD) was 355.9 +/- 178.1 microg retinol equivalents or 239.0 +/- 111.2 microg retinol activity equivalents. Provitamin A carotenoid intakes were 1211.2 +/- 840.0 microg/day beta-carotene, 234.6 +/- 231.7 microg/day alpha-carotene, and 149.1 +/- 160.7 microg/day beta-cryptoxanthin. Approximately 15-26% of subjects consumed < Korean Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) for vitamin A; whereas, 57-64% consumed < EAR for vitamin A for USA/Canadians. The mean plasma retinol concentration was 1.108 +/- 0.244 micromol/L. There were no significant correlations between intakes and plasma concentrations of retinol and carotenoids. Only 2.4% of children were vitamin A-deficient based on having plasma retinol concentrations <0.70 micromol/L. Plasma retinol concentrations of 42.3% of subjects were 0.70 - <1.05 micromol/L, which is considered indicative of potentially suboptimal vitamin A status. Therefore, some children may be at risk of inadequate vitamin A status in Kwangju, Republic of Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0806, USA.
authors.forename: Young-Nam
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Giraud
authors.forename: Youn-Ok
authors.initials: YO
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Driskell
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods; D015930:Diet Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014801:Vitamin A; D002338:Carotenoids