Effect of biscuits fortified with different doses of vitamin A on indices of vitamin A status, haemoglobin and physical growth levels of pre-school children in Chongqing.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the efficacy of biscuits fortified with different doses of vitamin A on improving vitamin A deficiency (VAD), anaemia and physical growth of pre-school children.


METHODS
A randomised double-masked population-based field interventional trial with a positive control group.


METHODS
Banan district of Chongqing, China.


METHODS
A total of 580 pre-school children aged 3-6 years were randomly recruited into four groups. Children in groups I and II were given biscuits fortified with vitamin A at 30 % of the recommended daily intake (RDA) and 100 % of the RDA once a day for 9 and 3 months, respectively. Children in group III received biscuits containing 20,000 IU of vitamin A once a week for 3 months. Initially, the children in group IV received a 200,000 IU vitamin A capsule just once. At the beginning and end of the study, blood samples were collected to measure Hb, serum retinol, retinol-binding protein and prealbumin, and weight and height were measured.


RESULTS
All the fortification types significantly decreased the prevalence of VAD and anaemia in each group (P < 0.05). The effect of 9-month intervention on group I was the most efficient (P < 0.0045). After intervention, the Z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height in all groups increased markedly compared with baseline (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was observed among the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Data indicated that consuming vitamin A-fortified biscuits with daily 100 % RDA for 3 months has the same effect on the improvement of VAD, anaemia and physical growth as did the weekly 20,000 IU and single 200,000 IU administration in pre-school children.
Zhang
Xuan
X
Child Health Care, Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014, People's Republic of China.
Chen
Ke
K
Qu
Ping
P
Liu
You-Xue
YX
Li
Ting-Yu
TY
D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001939:Bread; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009752:Nutritional Status; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
D006454:Hemoglobins; D014801:Vitamin A