Vitamin A Deficiency in Children Leads to Lower Immunity: Study

Children with vitamin A deficiency have more chances of developing frequent gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, a latest study states.

Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Michigan State University examined nearly 2,800 children aged between 5 and 12 for a year. All the participating children were from Bogota, Colombia.

The levels of zinc, iron, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin A (retinol) of the children were assessed. They found that children with lower levels of vitamin A experienced more cases of diarrhoea with vomiting and cough with fever.

They found that every 10 micrograms per deciliter of retinol found in the blood resulted in a decrease of 18 percent in days with diarrhoea and vomiting, 10 per cent fewer days of cough and fever and 6 per cent fewer visits to the doctor. "Studies of older children have included a range of micronutrients administered together, but no study had estimated the potential role of vitamin A alone in this age group," said Dr. Eduardo Villamor, U-M associate professor of epidemiology and senior author of the study, reports Medical Xpress.

"The association we found with vitamin A followed a dose-response pattern, in that higher blood concentrations of retinol were related to fewer symptoms," Villamor said.

"The effects of micronutrients, including retinol, could vary in different settings due to the underlying nutritional status of the population, the epidemiologic patterns of the microorganisms that cause illness-whether viral, bacterial or parasitic-the age and possibly sex of children, and other factors. It's definitely uncertain whether supplementation is a one-fits-all solution," Villamor stated.

The findings were published in the Journal of Nutrition.