Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Pediatric Metabolism and Nutrition, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Clin Nutr. 2014 Jun;33(3):509-12. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2013.07.008. Epub 2013 Jul 16.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most widespread vitamin deficiencies. Vitamin A is essential for children in order to ensure a healthy life span and sustain the normal growth and development. Aim of this study is to examine vitamin A status, and factors associated with it, in healthy school-age children.
The study was carried out in schools in Altindag, the district of Ankara, from April to May 2009. 585 girls and 478 boys, a total of 1063 healthy children aged 5-16 years were taken into the study. Serum retinol, ferritin and hs-CRP levels and complete blood count of each case were measured. A questionnaire was developed to collect socio-economic and demographic information of the participants.
Any subclinical VAD (SRL <0.7 μmol/L) was not detected in the children attending the study. However, SRLs were suboptimal in 2.2% of cases and these children were under a high risk of developing subclinical, and subsequently clinical VAD. There were significant positive correlations between serum retinol and hemoglobin values, and statistically significant negative correlation between serum retinol level and ferritin and hsCRP.
Vitamin A deficiency does not constitute an important public health problem for Altindag, Ankara, Turkey. Frequency of such vitamin deficiencies should be revealed before launching nationwide public health programs to fight with these deficiencies.
维生素 A 缺乏症（VAD）是最普遍的维生素缺乏症之一。维生素 A 对儿童的健康至关重要，可确保其拥有健康的寿命并维持正常的生长和发育。本研究旨在检查健康学龄儿童的维生素 A 状况及其相关因素。
该研究于 2009 年 4 月至 5 月在安卡拉的阿尔廷达格区的学校进行。共纳入 1063 名年龄在 5-16 岁的健康儿童，包括 585 名女孩和 478 名男孩。测量每位参与者的血清视黄醇、铁蛋白和 hs-CRP 水平以及全血细胞计数。制定了一份问卷以收集参与者的社会经济和人口统计学信息。
研究中没有发现任何亚临床维生素 A 缺乏症（SRL<0.7μmol/L）。然而，有 2.2%的儿童的 SRL 不达标，这些儿童处于发生亚临床和随后的临床维生素 A 缺乏症的高风险中。血清视黄醇与血红蛋白值之间存在显著的正相关，而血清视黄醇水平与铁蛋白和 hsCRP 之间存在显著的负相关。
维生素 A 缺乏症在土耳其安卡拉的阿尔廷达格区不是一个重要的公共卫生问题。在发起全国性公共卫生计划以对抗这些缺乏症之前，应先揭示此类维生素缺乏症的发生频率。
