Image courtesy: Eatthismuch.com
Vitamin A is required for immune function, vision, reproduction.
There are two forms – preformed Vit A and provitamin A (mainly beta carotene).
Preformed Vit A has better bioavailability and found in food from animal sources (dairy, fish, meat, esp liver). B-carotene has to be converted to Vit A in the body and found in green leafy vegetables (keere), orange and yellow coloured vegetables (carrots), tomatos, fruits, papaya etc.
B carotene is converted to Vit A in the intestine. Conversion (not religious) depends on food preparation and fat content of meal. A lot of children from poor communities do not eat a lot of fat so their conversion of carotene to Vitamin A is limited. Concentration of Vit A in livers of infants born to undernourished mothers is very low compared to better nourished ones.
Absorption of Vit A by children is reduced when there is respiratory infection, diarrhea and with worms.
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One of the biggest preventable causes of childhood blindness in India is Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which causes Xerophthalmia – a condition that is initially reversible but progressively gets permanent. The stages are night blindness, conjunctival xerosis, bitot spots, corneal xerosis, corneal ulcer or keratomalacia, corneal scarring, fundal involvement. Subclinical VAD in preschool children in India is 62%. Children from rural/tribal/low income groups are more vulnerable.Inadequate dietary intake is the most important cause. Infants are protected by breast milk so deficiency manifests six months after stopping breast feeding. VAD is closely associated with malnutrition and poor protein consumption. Best sources of Vit A are animal foods such as egg, fish liver, animal liver and dairy products. Dark green leafy vegetables and papaya provide precursors of Vit A such as beta carotene.
The government of India decides that animal foods are expensive so it stops talking about animal foods. It goes on to talk about supplementation with capsules/liquid. They give examples of fortification in other countries of sugar and MSG. they talk about fortifying oil, bread and milk… also genetically modified crops (rice and sweet potato)..they want to increase the production and consumption of red palm oil, spirulina….yet they refuse to give eggs to children and sanction beef bans….they just stop talking about animal foods as a vital source of Vitamin A…what does this say about the government?
Reference: Textbook of human nutrition, Mahtab et al, 2009
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