新乡市0～5岁儿童维生素A水平及其影响因素分析

目的:掌握新乡市0～5岁儿童维生素A状况。方法:测定新乡市0～5岁998名儿童血清Vit A水平,并调查儿童膳食结构、患病情况、父母文化程度等。结果:新乡市儿童VitA整体水平(29.56±7.12)μg/dl,亚临床维生素A缺乏(SVAD)总检出率为7.1%,城市高于农村;SVAD检出率<6个月儿童组最高,随年龄增大,SVAD检出率逐渐下降。采血前1周摄入富含Vit A食物、父母为大专以上文化程度的儿童SVAD检出率较低。结论:新乡市0～5岁儿童VitA轻度缺乏,通过提倡母乳喂养、及时添加辅食、加强健康教育、定期监测儿童Vit A水平等措施来提高儿童VitA水平。     

内蒙古西部0～5岁儿童血清维生素A水平调查

目的：为了解内蒙古西部0－5岁儿童维生素A水平。方法：按照随机整群抽样的原因，随机抽取我区西部一市、一牧业旗、一农业县共计636名儿童，采用微量血荧光法检测维生素A含量。结果：我区西部0－5岁儿童血清维生素A含量城市，农牧区，总体均值分别为30．8μg/dl,25.6μg/dl,27.4μg/dl(1μg/dl=0.0349μmol/L），均低于全国14省水平。其中城市与农村，城市与牧区间有显著差异，而农村与牧区间无差异。儿童血清维生素A水平与父亲文化程度无关，而随母亲文化程度（文盲组除外）的增高而增高。2周内腹泻和发热的儿童血清维生素A水平明显低于2周内无病儿童，结论：提示我区西部0－5岁儿童维生素A缺乏较多见，消除维生素A缺乏，需从加强儿童营养入手。     

湖南省1-12岁儿童维生素A营养状况评价

目的了解湖南省1-12岁儿童维生素A的营养状况及分布特点，为预防维生素A缺乏提供依据。方法本调查样本由多阶段分层整群随机抽样法获得。利用高效液相色谱法测定520名3-12岁儿童血浆样品的视黄醇含量；家庭食物连续3日个人膳食回顾询问法收集375名1-13岁儿童维生素A摄入情况。结果1-13岁儿童维生素A摄入量低于60％RNI的人达到74．7％，只有16．5％的人摄入量在80％RNI以上。被测儿童的血浆维生素A平均水平为30.5μg/dl（城市36.6μg/dl，农村28.6μg/dl）；维生素A缺乏率为6．9％（城市1．7％、农村8．5％）；维生素A边缘缺乏率为46．0％（城市20．0％，农村53．8％）。维生素A的缺乏和边缘缺乏男性明显高于女性（x^2=6．89，P〈0．01），3-7岁儿童明显高于8-12岁儿童（x^2=7．64，P〈0．01）。结论湖南省1-12岁儿童存在维生素A缺乏，特别是在农村地区，食物供给不足是造成维生素A缺乏病的直接原因。     

湖北省0～6岁儿童维生素A营养状况调查

【目的】　了解湖北省 0～ 6岁儿童血清维生素A营养状况及影响因素。　【方法】　采用家庭儿童饮食问卷和血清维生素A值评价 6 2 4例儿童的血清维生素A状况。　【结果】　湖北省 0～ 6岁儿童血清维生素A平均水平为 ( 32 .46± 8.33) μg/dl。低于 2 0 μg/dl者占 4.6 5 %,低于 30 μg/dl者占 35 .2 5 %。血清维生素A水平城乡之间比较有显著性差异 (P <0 .0 1)。儿童维生素A缺乏与父母文化程度高低、家庭经济收入状况和儿童膳食中维生素A供给不足有关。性别和年龄对血清维生素A水平无明显影响。　【结论】　维生素A缺乏病是多因素相互作用的结果 ,是可以预防的疾病。亚临床维生素A缺乏病是今后防治重点。对家长进行科学平衡膳食的健康教育 ,改善儿童膳食行为 ,能有效地降低儿童维生素A缺乏病的患病率。     

广州市3岁以下儿童血清维生素A水平调查分析

目的分析广州市3岁以下儿童维生素A水平,评价儿童维生素A营养状况。方法选择2018年11月-2019年4月在广东省妇幼保健院儿童保健门诊常规健康检查的2792名6～30月龄儿童为研究对象;通过LK3000V维生素检测仪电化学法检测血清维生素A水平。结果 6～30月龄儿童平均维生素A水平(0. 63±0. 20)μmol/L; 6月龄组(0. 62±0. 20)μmol/L和12月龄组(0. 63±0. 20)μmol/L均低于24月龄以上组(0. 66±0. 21)μmol/L儿童维生素A水平,差异具有统计学意义(F=4. 117,P=0. 006);总体维生素A缺乏比例33. 1%,其中6月龄组最高(36. 2%),随年龄增加而下降(χ2=4. 564,P=0. 033);维生素A缺乏率随儿童BMI增加呈上升趋势,但差异无统计学意义。结论广州地区3岁以下儿童维生素A缺乏率较高,与年龄呈负相关,应提高对低年龄阶段儿童维生素A缺乏问题的重视。     

补充维生素A预防小儿腹泻和呼吸道感染性疾病的效果评价

205名1～5岁儿童,按血清维生素A含量和膳食中维生素A摄入水平分为2组。用单盲法每季度给实验组儿童补充50 000IU的维生素A,随访观察1年实验组和对照组儿童每人每年平均腹泻发病次数分别为0.089±0.02和0.347±0.30次;呼吸道感染性疾病分别为0.346±0.06和0.951±0.11次;每次病程天数分别为2.67±0.07与5.54±0.11和0.94±0.20与2.47±0.26天,均有统计学上的差异(P<0.05)。实验组儿童血清维生素A(1.22±0.06μmol/L)含量明显高于对照组(0.87±0.05μmol/L),也有非常显著性的差异(P<0.01)。结果说明该观察点儿童维生素A营养水平很低,补充维生素A后,可减少腹泻和呼吸道感染性疾病的发病率。     

0～6岁儿童血铅水平调查分析

目的:掌握0～6岁儿童的血铅水平,为儿童血铅的监测及血铅中毒防治提供科学依据。方法:采用电感耦合高频等离子体发射光谱法对1 200名进行健康体检的0～6岁儿童进行血铅水平测定。结果:1 200名儿童血铅水平在2.12～74.32μg/dl范围内,均值为10.62μg/dl,儿童铅中毒35名,占被检测儿童的2.91%。男童630名,血铅平均值(10.58±13.12)μg/dl,铅中毒23名(36.51%);女童570名,血铅平均值为(10.08±4.23)μg/dl,铅中毒12名(21.05%)。男女儿童铅中毒率差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。随着年龄的增加,铅中毒率有增加的趋势。结论:建议将铅筛查作为0～6岁儿童长期的健康保健工作的重点内容,并且每年进行1次铅筛查,对于男童更应加强防铅教育,对初步筛查的铅中毒患者及时干预治疗。     

铅暴露对儿童体内钙及骨钙素的影响

[目的]研究铅暴露对儿童体内骨钙素的影响,了解重庆市儿童铅污染的状况。[方法]选择重庆市工业区和非工业区的幼儿园,调查了2-7岁儿童804例体内铅暴露情况,并同时观察其体内钙及骨钙素水平。[结果]非工业区儿童体内血铅含量[(65．29±24．74)μg／L]明显低于工业区儿童[(75．29±34．61)μg／L],而血钙则与之相反分别为 (2．53±0．34)、(2．38±0．22)m mol／L。统计分析后认为,铅和钙之间不存在典型的直线相关,而折线(趋势)图显示,血铅和血钙之间呈负相关。非工业区儿童血液中骨钙素含量(11．22±6．01)μg／L远低于工业区儿童(21．20±22．70)μg／L,两者比较差异有非常显著性(P<0．01),且与年龄性别相关。多元回归分析血铅对于骨钙素有一定的影响。[结论]铅可能通过调控儿童体内骨钙素的产生,从而影响儿童体内钙的吸收利用。     

婴幼儿常见喘息性疾病与维生素A、E的关系探讨

目的检测婴幼儿常见喘息性疾病及同龄健康儿童血清维生素A和维生素E水平,了解维生素A、E水平与常见喘息性疾病婴幼儿反复咳嗽喘息的相关性。方法选取近半年在我院儿科住院的喘息性疾病婴幼儿85例作为观察组;同时选取同龄健康儿童80例作为对照组。两组儿童血液标本采取后放冰箱保存,利用液相色谱柱进行处理,通过维生素A、E出峰的峰面积对应溶液浓度制作标准曲线,从而计算出待测样本中维生素A、E的浓度含量。结果观察组0～1岁患儿维生素A均值为(0. 25±0. 07)μmol/L,1～3岁为(0. 29±0. 09)μmol/L;对照组0～1岁患儿维生素A均值为(0. 35±0. 14)μmol/L,1～3岁为(0. 49±0. 16)μmol/L,两组相比统计学有显著差异(P <0. 05)。观察组0～1岁患儿维生素E均值为(9. 27±1. 90)μmol/L,1～3岁为(9. 53±1. 92)μmol/L;对照组0～1岁患儿维生素E均值为(10. 21±2. 04)μmol/L,1～3岁为(11. 08±2. 08)μmol/L,两组相比统计学无显著差异。结论维生素A缺乏或降低,是常见喘息性疾病婴幼儿反复呼吸道感染的常见原因之一;两组儿童维生素E水平基本正常。     

包头市415名学龄前儿童的营养状况评价

目的　了解学龄前儿童的营养状况。方法　对包头市某日托幼儿园的儿童生长发育和营养状况进行了评价。结果　儿童的身高、体重分别为 (10 7 5± 7 3)cm、(18 0± 3 3)kg。年龄别身高 (HAZ)、年龄别体重 (WAZ)、身高别体重 (WHZ)分别为 0 0 4 5± 0 987、0 0 0 3± 1 116、0 0 0 8± 1 0 0 8。学龄前儿童低体重率 (WHZ<- 2 )为 1 2 % ,生长迟缓率 (HAZ <- 2 )为 1 0 % ,超重率 (WAZ >2 )为 4 6 %。血红蛋白浓度为 (12 9 7±10 3)g L ,贫血的患病率为 5 5 %。血清铁蛋白 (SF)含量为 (4 8 6± 2 9 2 ) μg L ,铁缺乏率为 2 6 2 %。血清视黄醇浓度为 (1 72± 0 5 2 ) μmol L ,亚临床维生素A缺乏率为 11 1%。血清 2 5 OH D3含量为 (4 1 98± 2 4 6 0 )nmol L ,边缘性维生素D的缺乏率为 18 4 %。各年龄组间、各年龄组男女孩之间 ,血红蛋白、血清铁蛋白、血清视黄醇、血清 2 5 OH D3的含量无显著差异 (P >0 0 5 )。贫血患病率、铁缺乏率、亚临床维生素A缺乏率、边缘性维生素D缺乏率 ,各年龄组间、各年龄组内男女间也无显著差异 (P >0 0 5 )。结论　所调查的儿童生长发育状况较好 ,低体重、生长迟缓的发生率在城市已明显减少 ,但超重问题开始显现出来。微量营养素铁、维生素A、维生素D的缺乏或边     

Breastfeeding practices and associated factors among children under 24 months of age in Timor-Leste

OBJECTIVE: To describe breastfeeding practices and to assess the sociodemographic factors associated with selected breastfeeding indicators. DESIGN AND SETTING: The 2003 Demographic and Health Survey was a multi-stage cluster sample survey of 4320 households from four different geographic areas in Timor-Leste. SUBJECTS: A total of 2162 children aged 0-23 months. RESULTS: A high proportion (97.6%) of infants had been ever breastfed, but only 46.1% had initiated breastfeeding within the first hour of birth. Seventy-eight percent of children <24 months were currently breastfed, 30.7% of infants <6 months were exclusively breastfed and 12.5% of infants <12 months were bottle-fed. A high proportion of infants of 6-9 months (82.0%) were receiving complementary food in addition to breast milk. Multivariate analysis revealed that exclusive breastfeeding was significantly lower in the rural west region (odds ratio (OR)=3.15) compared to the urban region, and among those from richest households (OR=1.90) compared to poorest. Mothers with primary education were significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed than mothers with no education (OR=0.62). Increasing age of the infant was associated with significantly less current (OR=1.23) and exclusive (OR=1.35) breastfeeding. Continuation of breastfeeding at the end of the first year was significantly lower in non-working mothers (OR=1.58) compared to working mothers, and among infants born in health-care facilities (OR=2.16) than those born at home. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding practices in Timor-Leste were satisfactory, except the exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months. However, more socioeconomically privileged groups demonstrated a poorer breastfeeding performance than disadvantaged groups. Further breastfeeding promotion programmes are needed across all population groups, and should include health-care providers and maternity institutions.     

The effects of breastfeeding and presence of antibody to p40tax protein of human T cell lymphotropic virus type-I on mother to child transmission.

We examined the effects of various factors, including duration of breastfeeding, the status of mother's anti-p40tax, and titre of mother's anti-human T cell lymphototropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) on mother to child transmission of HTLV-I in 76 HTLV-I carrier mothers and 175 of their children. The overall prevalence of anti-HTLV-I among children was 16.0%. The prevalence of anti-HTLV-I among children breastfed for over 3 months was significantly higher (27.6%) than that of those breastfed for under 3 months (5.1%; P = 0.012). Of the 78 bottle-fed children, 10 (12.8%) were positive for anti-HTLV-I. In the children breastfed for over 3 months, the prevalence of anti-HTLV-I among 37 children of anti-p40tax positive mothers was 37.8% and that of 21 children of anti-p40tax negative mothers was 9.5%, a significant difference (P = 0.044). These data suggest that about 13% of bottle-fed children born to carrier mothers are infected with HTLV-I by routes other than breast milk, and that the mother's anti-p40tax can serve as a marker of infectivity of HTLV-I in the case of breastfeeding for over 3 months.     

Elevated vitamin A intake and serum retinol in preadolescent children with cystic fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Persons with cystic fibrosis (CF) and pancreatic insufficiency (PI) are at risk of vitamin A deficiency because of steatorrhea, despite pancreatic enzyme replacement. Long-standing vitamin A supplementation may increase the risk of vitamin A toxicity. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to describe the vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations of preadolescent children with CF, PI, and mild-to-moderate pulmonary disease, who were cared for under current practice recommendations. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study evaluated children aged 8.0-11.9 y with CF and PI from 13 US CF centers. Dietary and supplemental vitamin A intakes were compared with the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for healthy children, CF recommendations, and data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2000. Serum retinol concentrations were compared with NHANES data. RESULTS: The 73 subjects with CF had a dietary vitamin A intake of 816 +/- 336 microg retinol activity equivalents (165 +/- 69% of the recommended dietary allowance), which was similar to the NHANES value. The supplement intake provided 2234 +/- 1574 microg retinol activity equivalents/d and exceeded recommendations in 21% of the subjects with CF. Total preformed retinol intake exceeded the DRI tolerable upper intake level in 78% of the subjects with CF. The serum retinol concentration was 52 +/- 13 microg/dL (range: 26-98 microg/dL), which was significantly higher than the NHANES value (37 +/- 10 microg/dL; range: 17-63 microg/dL; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although supplementation helps to prevent vitamin A deficiency in children with CF and PI, their high vitamin A intakes and serum retinol concentrations suggest that usual care may result in excessive vitamin A intake and possible toxicity that would increase the risk of CF-associated liver and bone complications.     

Dark adaptation pattern of pregnant women as an indicator of functional disturbance at acceptable serum vitamin A levels

BACKGROUND: As a result of lack of precise guidelines, nutritional surveys on adults and high-risk groups are using diverse reference values as a dividing line between normal and deficient vitamin A status. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether pregnant women at marginally normal serum retinol status exhibit functional alteration that are characteristic of a deficiency state. SETTING: Antenatal clinic, Gondar teaching hospital. SUBJECTS: Ninety-six healthy pregnant women were recruited for the study at the antenatal clinic. INTERVENTION: The dark adaptation time was tested in 48 pregnant women with marginal serum retinol level. The time lapse to see successive light stimuli of diminishing luminescence grade and change in retinal sensitivity pattern was measured using dark adaptometer. Results were compared with the results of a control group of women of similar age, parity and gestational period but with serum retinol values above 35 microg/dl. RESULTS: The mean serum retinol levels of cases and controls were 23.35 microg/dl and 40.47 microg/dl respectively (P<0.008). Cases have a lower dark adaptation than their controls, shown by their remarkably reduced sensitivity to light. For instance at mean final light threshold was -2.20+/-0.11 log cd/m(2) in cases as compared to -2.88+/-0.1 log cd/m(2) in the normal group (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: During pregnancy, dark adaptation was strongly associated with serum retinol concentration and women with marginal vitamin A concentration had lower dark adaptation. Hence marginally normal serum retinol levels should be categorized as a deficiency state, at least in pregnant women.     

Breastfeeding Practices among Adolescent Mothers and Associated Factors in Bangladesh (2004–2014)

Optimal breastfeeding practices among mothers have been proven to have health and economic benefits, but evidence on breastfeeding practices among adolescent mothers in Bangladesh is limited. Hence, this study aims to estimate breastfeeding indicators and factors associated with selected feeding practices. The sample included 2554 children aged 0–23 months of adolescent mothers aged 12–19 years from four Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys collected between 2004 and 2014. Breastfeeding indicators were estimated using World Health Organization (WHO) indicators. Selected feeding indicators were examined against potential confounding factors using univariate and multivariate analyses. Only 42.2% of adolescent mothers initiated breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, 53% exclusively breastfed their infants, predominant breastfeeding was 17.3%, and 15.7% bottle-fed their children. Parity (2–3 children), older infants, and adolescent mothers who made postnatal check-up after two days were associated with increased exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates. Adolescent mothers aged 12–18 years and who watched television were less likely to delay breastfeeding initiation within the first hour of birth. Adolescent mothers who delivered at home (adjusted OR = 2.63, 95% CI:1.86, 3.74) and made postnatal check-up after two days (adjusted OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.30) were significantly more likely to delay initiation breastfeeding within the first hour of birth. Adolescent mothers living in the Barisal region and who listened to the radio reported increased odds of predominant breastfeeding, and increased odds for bottle-feeding included male infants, infants aged 0–5 months, adolescent mothers who had eight or more antenatal clinic visits, and the highest wealth quintiles. In order for Bangladesh to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 and 3 by 2030, breastfeeding promotion programmes should discourage bottle-feeding among adolescent mothers from the richest households and promote early initiation of breastfeeding especially among adolescent mothers who delivered at home and had a late postnatal check-up after delivery.     

Retinol concentrations in capillary dried blood spots from healthy volunteers: method validation

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in the developing world, leading to >3 million eye-related problems in preschool children. Nearly 250 million children have subclinical VAD, resulting in a 23% increase in childhood mortality. Difficulties in obtaining samples to assess VAD have hampered the detection, intervention, and surveillance of VAD. The use of dried blood spots (DBS) could ameliorate many problems of vitamin A assessment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to validate the use of retinol in DBS for vitamin A assessment by comparing it with venous and capillary serum retinol. DESIGN: Venous and capillary blood specimens were obtained simultaneously from 20 healthy adult volunteers. From each blood specimen, both DBS and liquid serum were prepared (a total of 80 samples). All specimens were maintained at -70 degrees C until HPLC analysis. RESULTS: The mean retinol concentrations in the 4 sample types were as follows: venous serum (2.02 +/- 0.42 micromol/L, or 58 +/- 12 microg/dL), capillary serum (2.06 +/- 0.42 micromol/L, or 59 +/- 12 microg/dL), venous DBS (2.06 +/- 0.49 micromol/L, or 59 +/- 14 microg/dL), and capillary DBS (2.09 +/- 0.45 micromol/L, or 60 +/- 13 microg/dL). Of the 6 possible 2-way combinations, the R(2) values ranged from 0.77 for capillary DBS versus venous DBS to 0.95 for venous serum versus capillary serum. CONCLUSIONS: DBS retinol measured by HPLC is comparable with serum retinol. Thus, it is possible to compare and combine blood retinol concentration data obtained from DBS with current and historic measurements in serum.     

Changes in vitamin A intake following the social marketing of red palm oil among children and women in Burkina Faso

This paper focuses on changes in vitamin A (VA) intakes as part of the evaluation of a pilot project on social marketing of red palm oil (RPO) as a VA supplement for mothers and children in central-north Burkina Faso. The objectives of the 30-month project are to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of introducing RPO in non-consuming areas. RPO is collected from women in the South-West region and it is sold in project sites by village volunteers. RPO is promoted by community workers trained in persuasive communication and social marketing. The target population is free to buy and consume RPO. Evaluation design includes data collected at onset, then 12 and 24 months later, from the same sample of 210 mothers and their children randomly selected in seven project sites. Children were 1 to 3 years old at onset. Blood samples were collected at baseline from mothers and children for serum retinol determination by HPLC. VA intakes are estimated by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, using the conventional beta-carotene to retinol conversion factors and the newly revised lower factors. VA deficiency is a major public health problem in the area: 64% of mothers and 85% of children had serum retinol concentrations < 0,70 mumol/l at baseline. VA came mainly from plant foods, particularly fruits and dark green vegetables which provided more than 90% of the dietary VA at onset of the project. Mean vitamin A intakes are low. We found 138 106 mug ER for the children and 302 +/- 235 microg ER for the mothers with conventional factors and 64 +/- 58 microg ER and 133 +/- 162 microg ER, respectively, with the revised factors. One year later, one third of respondents had consumed RPO in the previous week, and it supplied around 56% of the VA intake of children and 67% of mothers (36% and 46% respectively for the whole group). VA intakes were significantly increased at 510 +/- 493 microg ER and 801 +/- 913 microg ER for the children and their mothers respectively (347 +/- 443 microg ER and 568 +/- 803 microg ER respectively, with the revised factors). Analyzing serum retinol and dietary data collected at baseline, it was found that VA intakes < 62,5% of safe level of intake were highly sensitive to low serum retinol (< 0,70 micromol/l) and using revised conversion factors to assess total VA intake slightly enhanced sensitivity. The proportion of mothers and children at risk of inadequate VA intake changed from nearly 100% at baseline to 60% one year later. The results show that promoting RPO (and other VA rich foods) was effective in improving VA intakes. This improvement will hopefully be sustained and even further enhanced during the remaining 12 months of the project, after which repeated measurement of serum retinol and VA intakes will allow the actual impact of the project to be truly assessed.     

母乳喂养和辅食添加与儿童亚临床VitA缺乏的关系

目的:探讨母乳喂养和辅食添加与儿童亚临床Vit A缺乏的关系。方法:对于6~71个月儿童Vit A营养状况进行横断面研究,荧光法测定血清Vit A含量。半定量频率问卷收集调查前2周内儿童辅食情况,同时调查儿童的家庭经济、围生期保健及疾病情况等。结果:单因素分析表明母乳喂养为亚临床Vit A缺乏的危险因素(OR=3·52,95%CI为2·02~6·12);多因素Logistic回归在控制性别、月龄、儿童排行、母亲文化水平、母亲职业、Vit A增补剂、腹泻等因素后,仍然有显著意义(OR=2·39,95%CI为1·22~4·69)。单因素分析添加鲜奶或奶制品、蛋类、豆类及豆制品、蔬菜以及鱼虾等辅食对亚临床VitA缺乏有保护作用,OR均小于1;在控制已知协变量和混杂变量后,只有豆类及豆制品辅食添加有统计学意义(OR=0·41,95%CI为0·18~0·94)。结论:6个月以后母乳喂养不能成为亚临床Vit A缺乏的保护因素,辅食添加不足与亚临床Vit A缺乏关系有待进一步研究。     

Vitamin A inadequacy observed in a group of 2- to 6-year-old children living in Kwangju, Republic of Korea

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.     

Copper status of collegiate female athletes involved in different sports

Copper status was assessed in 70 female collegiate athletes aged 18 to 25 years participating in cross country track, tennis, softball, swimming, soccer, basketball, and gymnastics during the 2000-2001 season. A group of 8 college-aged females, 20 to 23 years of age, who were not collegiate athletes, served as controls. Mean copper intakes including supplements did not differ significantly among the controls and athletic teams. Mean copper intakes including supplements as micrograms/day and percent recommended dietary allowance (RDA) were as follows: controls 1071 +/- 772 microg (119 +/- 86%), cross country track 1468 +/- 851 microg (163 +/- 95%), tennis 1099 +/- 856 microg (122 +/- 95%), softball 654 +/- 420 microg (73 +/- 47%), swimming 1351 +/- 1060 g (150 +/- 118%), soccer 695 +/- 368 microg (77 +/- 41%), and gymnastics 940 +/- 863 microg (104 +/- 96%). Forty-one percent of athletes and 29% of controls failed to consume two thirds of the RDA for copper. Mean serum copper and ceruloplasmin concentrations were within the normal range and did not differ significantly among the controls (117 +/- 22 microg/dl, 445 +/- 122 mg/L) and cross country track (98 +/- 17 microg/dl, 312 +/- 59 mg/L), tennis (140 +/- 84 microg/dl, 424 +/- 244 mg/L), softball (95 +/- 30 microg/dl, 310 +/- 77 mg/L), swimming (98 +/- 25 microg/dl, 312 +/- 40 mg/L), soccer (93 +/- 15 microg/dl, 324 +/- 54 mg/ L), basketball (85 +/- 10 microg/dl, 280 +/- 62 mg/L), and gymnastics (96 +/- 21 microg/dl, 315 +/- 68 mg/L) teams. Copper status of female collegiate athletes appears to be adequate in this cross-sectional assessment.