title: Consumption of vitamin A rich foods and dark adaptation threshold of pregnant women at Damot Sore District, Wolayita, Southern Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More than 7.2 million pregnant women in developing countries suffer from vitamin A deficiency. The objective of this study was to assess dark adaptation threshold of pregnant women and related socio-demographic factors in Damot Sore District, Wolayita Zone, Southern Ethiopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data from 104 pregnant women selected by a two stage cluster sampling. A Dietary Diversity Score was calculated by counting the number of food groups consumed by the women in 24 hour period prior to the study. Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1 was used to test participant's pupillary response to graded amounts of light in a dark tent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half of the pregnant women in this study had dietary diversity score less than three. The majority of participants (87.5%) had consumed either animal or plant source vitamin A rich foods less than three times a week. For a unit increase in individual dietary diversity score, there was a decrease in dark adaptation measurement by 0.29 log cd/m(2) (p=0.001). For a unit increase in gestational week of pregnancy, there was an increase in dark adaptation measurement by 0.19 log cd/m(2) (P=0.027).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results from this study indicated that the pregnant women had low consumption of vitamin A rich foods, and their dark adaptation threshold increases with gestational age indicating that their vitamin A status is getting worse. There is a need to design appropriate intervention and target this group of population.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Hiwot
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abebe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yewelsew
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abebe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Eskindir
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loha
authors.affiliation: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Stoecker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009755:Night Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A
keywords: Southern Ethiopia; Vitamin A deficiency; dark adaptation threshold; pregnant women