Dietary vitamin-A deficiency: effects on growth, infection, and mortality

Abstract

Vitamin A (VA) deficient children are more likely to have co-morbidity and to be stunted in growth, and they have a higher risk of mortality. The relation between dietary imbalance and VA deficiency starts at a young age. Early cessation of breast-feeding, poor quality of the weaning diet, and infrequent consumption of VA-rich foods appear to underlie mild xerophthalmia. These dietary imbalances often coexist with food access. We must know how to alter detrimental food habits before dietary interventions can be formulated. -from Author