Vitamin A intake in school-aged children in Draa-Tafilalet oasis regions, southeastern of Morocco

Abstract

Vitamin A has several important functions such as preventing childhood blindness and strengthening the immune system against common diseases in children. The purpose of the present work was to assess the nutritional intake of vitamin A in oasis school-age children. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among children enrolled in public primary education establishments. 4244 school-aged children were randomly selected to take part in the study. Data on dietary vitamin A intake was assessed by the 24-hour dietary recall. Socio-economic characteristics were got using an appropriate questionnaire. Over the entire sample, the median vitamin A intake was around 409.3 μg for girls and 294.5 μg for boys. The prevalence of insufficient vitamin A intake was observed in 58.3%. The prevalence of inadequate intake according to socio-demographic and economic characteristics shows girls tend to develop vitamin A deficiency compared to boys. Children from urban areas show significant percentages of inadequacy. School-aged children with illiterate parents with low monthly income were identified as at risk of having insufficient dietary intake of vitamin A. In conclusion, we have revealed an important level of inadequacy for vitamin A in the overall processed results that must be considered.