[Vitamin A in Gabonese children not receiving supplements: relation to ocular and nutritional diseases].
To define vitamin A status in Gabonese children before the supplementation campaigns by UNICEF and the Gabonese Ministry of Health. We conducted an epidemiological, clinical and laboratory study at two of the main child health centers of Libreville and included 150 children aged from 0 to 156 months. We assessed their nutritional and ophthalmological status, their consumption of food rich in vitamin A and their blood levels of vitamin A (retinol). The latter was below the normal level (0.76 mmol/l) for 70% of the children. We observed the following eye diseases correlated with retinol levels: nyctalopia (16%), conjunctiva xerosis (6.7%), Bitot's spots (1.3%), corneal xerosis (3.3%), leukoma (0.7%) and blindness (1.3%). Moreover, 48.7% of the children had delayed growth, positively correlated with low retinol concentrations (0.643 mmol/l), 10% kwashiorkor and 19.9% marasmus. Among the mothers interviewed, 56% were unemployed and 69.3% knew little about vitamin A-rich food, which indeed is a rare part of the population's diet. This prospective study showed that the vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in Libreville. Supplementation campaigns are certainly necessary to fight it, but also and especially improved nutrition, including regular consumption of the vitamin A-rich food available in Gabonese market places.
Abessolo
Felix Ovono
FO
Laboratoire de biochimie, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Libreville, Gabon.
Kuissi
Eliane
E
Nguele
Jean Calvin
JC
Lémamy
Guy Joseph
GJ
Ndong
Zue
Z
Ngou-Milama
Edouard
E
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005681:Gabon; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D014801:Vitamin A