Objective: To study vitamin A status, the prevalence of vitamin A (VA) deficiency and marginal VA deficiency and the correlation of VA and iron status of Chinese children.
Methods: 380 children were randomly chosen from "Survey on the Status of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese People" (CNHS) in 2002. The plasma vitamin A, hemoglobin (Hb), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), ferritin (SF) and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) were detected. The prevalence of VA deficiency and marginal deficiency was assessed and the correlation of VA and iron indexes was studied.
Results: The VA concentration of subjects was (1.03 +/- 0.24) micromol/L. The prevalence of VA deficiency and VA marginal deficient was 8.4% and 44.7% respectively. Plasma VA was positively correlated with Hb (r = 0.16986, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with sTfR (r = -0.12863, P < 0.05) significantly but there was no association of SF and TIBC.
Conclusion: Iron deficiency coexisted VA marginal deficiency are still very prevalent in Chinese children, plasma VA are correlated with iron status.