An comparative investigation of the level of vitamin A of children aged seven to fourteen between Dongxiang and Bonan in China / 中华疾病控制杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the level of vitamin A of children aged 7～14 in the Dongxiang and Bonan ethnic ghettos.Methods Fifty-seven children aged seven to fourteen were sampled from rural areas in the Dongxiang and Bonan ethnic ghettos from Dongxiang Autonomous County and Jishishan region,Gansu Province.The vitamin A level in serum was detected using the fluorescence method.Results The average level of vitamin A in serum was(1.41?0.42)?mol/L for children aged seven to fourteen in the Dongxiang region,and of all the fifty-seven children,there was 4 SVAD(accounted for 7.0%)and 10 suspicious SVAD(accounted for 17.6%).The average level of vitamin A in serum was(1.67?0.53)?mol/L for children aged seven to fourteen in the Bonan region,and of all the fifty-seven children,there was 1 SVAD(accounted for 1.7%)and 7 suspicious SVAD(accounted for 12.3%).There was statistically significant difference in different national and aged groups,but no difference in SVAD and suspicious SVAD.Conclusions SVAD and suspicious SVAD exist in the Dongxiang and Bonan region,and the intervention of vitamin A supplementation should focus on children suffering from SVAD and suspicious SVAD.