Keywords
Vitamin A deficiency,
under five children
How to Cite
Abstract
Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient that is important for growth, development, immunocompetence and good vision. It is one of the micronutrients deficiencies of greatest public health concern globally, due to its high prevalence and associated health and developmental consequences. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency among children under five in North-Western, Nigeria.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 mother-child pair respondents between October 2022 and November 2022. The participants were selected by a multi-stage sampling technique. Children's serum retinol levels were determined by high‑performance liquid chromatography. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and a data sheet. Data were processed using IBM® SPSS version 25 and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: Prevalence of vitamin A was significantly higher in rural than in urban communities (33.8% vs 16.2%, p=0.002). In urban communities, a statistically significant association was found between vitamin A deficiency and fathers’ occupation (p < 0.001) and vitamin A supplementation (p = 0.017). However, in rural areas, there was a statistically significant association between Vitamin A deficiency and fathers’ occupation (<0.001), vitamin A supplement (p =0.017), birth order (p= 0.010) and Family size (p=0.008).
Conclusion: Vitamin A deficiency was prevalent, but a significantly higher proportion of children in the rural areas had vitamin A deficiency as compared to those in the urban areas.
Recommendation: Community health workers should educate parents about the importance of taking advantage of vitamin A supplementation and ensuring children eat foods from all food groups.