Scientists: Vitamin A will significantly reduce morbidity and mortality
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Children in low- and middle-income countries should receive nutritional supplements with vitamin A, which will significantly reduce morbidity and mortality.
Vitamin A (retinol) is necessary for bone growth , normal reproductive function, embryonic development, vision, skin health , hair and immune system functioning. The best sources of vitamin - fish oil and liver, next in the row are butter, egg yolks, cream and whole milk. Cereals and skim milk, even with vitamin supplements, are not considered to be satisfactory suppliers, nor is beef, where retinol is contained in negligible amounts.
Vitamin A deficiency makes children vulnerable to infections such as diarrhea and measles and can lead to blindness. According to the World Health Organization, about 190 million children under the age of five may suffer from a lack of vitamin A: despite their scale, programs to provide retinol are not able to cover many of these babies.
A team of scientists from Oxford University (Great Britain) and Aga Khan University (Pakistan) analyzed the results of 43 trials of vitamin A supplements for 216,000 children aged 6 months to 5 years living in 19 countries (mainly in Asia); on average, the kids started participating in an experiment that lasted a year, at the age of two and a half years. To minimize the error in the assessment, differences in the research model and their quality were taken into account.
It was found that dietary supplements with retinol reduce child mortality by 24% in low- and middle-income countries. This means that more than 600,000 children can be saved annually from death and millions of serious infections are prevented.
Based on these results, the authors strongly recommend giving vitamin supplements to children under five years of age living in areas with a risk of vitamin A deficiency. The effectiveness of retinol is so well established and justified that further tests comparing vitamin with placebo will simply be unethical, researchers concludes.
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