Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency in School Going Children in Rural Area

Background: Adequate data on occurrence of ocular morbidities associated with vitamin A deficiency amongst school going children was not available. So, our study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among the primary school children in relation to socio-economical status. Methods: The study was designed among school children of 5-15 years of age after taking consent form from principals of different schools in the rural areas of Amravati district in Maharashtra. A predesigned proforma was used to collect the information. Results: Total 600 school children were examined for Vitamin A deficiency, out of which 314 (52.50%) were boys and 286 (47.75%) were girls. Among the school children 106 (13.7%) students were under the age group of 5-10 years and 494 (86.3%) students were 11- 15 years. According to modified Kuppuswamy scale of Socio-economic status 96 (16%) students belongs to class III, 458 (76.33%) students from class IV and 46 (7.66%) students from class V. Prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency was observed in 34 (5.7%) students, among them 6 (17.64%) had conjunctival xerosis and 28 (82.35%) had bitot’s spot. Among 34 Vitamin A deficiency children 22 (64.70%) were girls and 12 (35.29%) were boys. Conclusion: The presence of ocular morbidity in relation to vitamin A deficiency was observed in students with low socio-economic classes. Prevention, early intervention and treatment of ocular diseases by regular screening of students and nutritional education in schools would definitely decrease the risk of ocular abnormalities. Keywords: HVitamin A deficiency, xerophthalmia.

Child Night Blindness and Bitot’s Spots Are Public Health Problems in Lay Armachiho District, Central Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Night blindness (XN) is a condition in which a person cannot see in dim light and is the earliest clinical manifestation of vitamin A deficiency. Globally, vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in 122 countries, of which 45 countries have moderate to severe child night blindness. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing the prevalence and associated factors of night blindness and Bitot’s spot among children aged 24-59 months. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was employed from February to March 2019 among children aged 24-59 months in the Lay Armachiho District, Amhara region. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive summary statistics were used to describe the study population. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify associated factors. Results. Out of 1007 children, 1.9% and 2.2% had night blindness and Bitot’s spot, respectively. Illiterate mothers ( AOR = 2.94 ; 95 % CI = 1.12 , 6.72 ), age of 48 to 59 months ( AOR = 9.81 ; 95 % CI = 1.24 , 77.36 ), ≥4 family sizes ( AOR = 4.52 ; 95 % CI = 1.02 , 19.90 ), had diarrhea ( AOR = 5.00 ; 95 % CI = 1.73 , 14.54 ), and had a respiratory tract infection ( AOR = 3.14 ; 95 % CI = 1.02 , 9.70 ) were significantly associated with night blindness. Age of 48-59 months ( AOR = 4.23 ; 95 % CI = 1.13 , 14.86 ) and mothers who did not wash their hands after using the toilet ( AOR = 3.02 ; 95 % CI = 1.01 , 9.13 ) were predictor variables for Bitot’s spots. Conclusion. The prevalence of night blindness and Bitot’s spots was high. Child’s age, mother’s educational status, family size, diarrhea in the last 2 weeks, and respiratory tract infection in the last 2 weeks were predictive variables for night blindness. Besides, handwashing practice after using the toilet and child’s age were significantly associated with Bitot’s spot among children. Therefore, both night blindness and Bitot’s spots are a public health problem and call for the attention of health professionals in primary health care facilities.

Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency among Preschool Children in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background. Vitamin A deficiency is a major nutritional concern in lower-income countries. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to show the magnitude of vitamin A deficiency among preschoolers in Ethiopia. Objective. The present study was aimed at synthesizing qualitatively and quantitatively the existing literature on the prevalence of VAD in preschool children in Ethiopia. Methods. Studies were searched through the search engine of Google Scholar, Hinari, MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Africa-Wide Information. Searching was made using the keywords/MeSH of vitamin A deficiency, xerophthalmia, night blindness, Bitot’s spot, retinol, children, and Ethiopia. Data were analyzed and compared with the WHO threshold criteria to declare a public health problem. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed using a Cochran Q test and I2 statistics. A random-effects model with 95% confidence interval was used for prevalence estimations. Results. Of the 13 studies included in clinical analysis, 12 of them reported the prevalence of night blindness and/or Bitot’s spot among preschool children in Ethiopia which was above WHO cutoff point for the public health problem 1% and 0.5%, respectively. The prevalence of night blindness significantly decreased from moderate public health problem 4.2% (95% CI: 2.8%-5.7%) in a period from 1990 to 2004 to mild public health problem 0.8% (95% CI: 0.6%-1.0%) in a period from 2005 to 2019. Furthermore, statistically insignificant reduction was observed in the prevalence of Bitot’s spot in a period from 1990 to 2004, 2.2% (95% CI: 1.3%-3.2%) to 1.8% (95% CI: 1.2%-2.3%) in a period from 2005 to 2019. Among 8 studies on subclinical vitamin A deficiency, 7 of them indicated a severe public health problem (>20%). The prevalence of subclinical vitamin A deficiency decreased from 55.7% (95% CI: 39.8%-71.6%) in a period from 1990 to 2004 to 28.3% (95% CI: 9.8%-46.7%) in a period from 2005 to 2019, but not statistically significant. Conclusions. Despite the reduced proportion of night blindness and Bitot’s spot, still both clinical and subclinical vitamin A deficiencies remain a public health problem in Ethiopia requiring strengthen intervention through the newly initiated health extension program.

Prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency among school going children of Jasra block of Allahabad, India

The present study was conducted to find out the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency(VAD) among school going children of district Allahabad in year 2015 to assess the nutritional status of selected school going children (aged 6-12 years). The six months study was based on school going children in four selected village in Jasra block of Allahabad district.A structured Performa was used to collect the information. Out of the 105 children examined, 2 (1.90%) had clinical signs of night blindness. The overall prevalence of VAD was found to be 10.47%. Most of them exhibited dull and lusterless appearance of conjunctiva, non-had bitot’s spot, any corneal xerosis, corneal scare and keratomalacia. The prevalence of VAD was higher in girls rather than in boys. To overcome this problem of VAD persisting in community, nutrition education regarding regular intake of plant food rich in carotene such as green leafy vegetables, yellow fruits, carrots and animal foods containing retinol like fish liver oil, fortified food like vana- spati, margarine should be strengthened.

The Ophthalmic status manifestations of nutritional and lifestyle disorders of men in a peri urban community in Ghana

Unhealthy conditions of eye/sight in poor communities in South-Saharan African countries are many and becoming a global concern. The aim of the study is to determine the lifestyle variables and their associations with unhealthy ophthalmic conditions of men in a peri-urban community in Ghana. The study was a cross-sectional; involving men aged ≥18 years of age. Data were gathered using WHO Stepwise questionnaires. Analyses included frequencies, Chi-squares, correlations and regressions. The participants were made up of 1449 men. The dietary intakes of vitamin A rich food were so low that they could not be represented quantitatively. About 71.0% of the men were habitual users of alcoholic beverages and 22.0% smoked tobacco. About 21.7% of men had Bitot’s spot while 4.3% had keratomalacia. The logistic regression analysis predicted that alcohol users were about twice more likely to suffer Bitot’s spot (p=0.20) while tobacco smokers were about 3 times and 13 times more likely to suffer from Bitot’s spot (p<0.01) and Keratomalacia (p<0.01) respectively, compared with nonsmokers in the study group. The prevalence of ophthalmic was considerable high. The lifestyle behaviours such as smoking were strongly correlated with Bitot’s spots and keratomalacia among the participating men.Journal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2017) 6(1), 1-7Keywords: Bitot’s spot, keratomalacia, Vitamin-A, Xerophthalmia