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. 2022 Jan 18;14(3):407.
doi: 10.3390/nu14030407.

Evidence to Underpin Vitamin A Requirements and Upper Limits in Children Aged 0 to 48 Months: A Scoping Review

Lee Hooper  1 , Chizoba Esio-Bassey  1 , Julii Brainard  1 , Judith Fynn  1 , Amy Jennings  1 , Natalia Jones  2 , Bhavesh V Tailor  1 , Asmaa Abdelhamid  1 , Calvin Coe  1 , Latife Esgunoglu  1 , Ciara Fallon  1 , Ernestina Gyamfi  1 , Claire Hill  1 , Stephanie Howard Wilsher  1 , Nithin Narayanan  1 , Titilopemi Oladosu  1 , Ellice Parkinson  3 , Emma Prentice  1 , Meysoon Qurashi  4 , Luke Read  1 , Harriet Getley  1 , Fujian Song  1 , Ailsa A Welch  1 , Peter Aggett  5 , Georg Lietz  6
Affiliations

Evidence to Underpin Vitamin A Requirements and Upper Limits in Children Aged 0 to 48 Months: A Scoping Review

Lee Hooper et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency is a major health risk for infants and children in low- and middle-income countries. This scoping review identified, quantified, and mapped research for use in updating nutrient requirements and upper limits for vitamin A in children aged 0 to 48 months, using health-based or modelling-based approaches. Structured searches were run on Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central, from inception to 19 March 2021. Titles and abstracts were assessed independently in duplicate, as were 20% of full texts. Included studies were tabulated by question, methodology and date, with the most relevant data extracted and assessed for risk of bias. We found that the most recent health-based systematic reviews and trials assessed the effects of supplementation, though some addressed the effects of staple food fortification, complementary foods, biofortified maize or cassava, and fortified drinks, on health outcomes. Recent isotopic tracer studies and modelling approaches may help quantify the effects of bio-fortification, fortification, and food-based approaches for increasing vitamin A depots. A systematic review and several trials identified adverse events associated with higher vitamin A intakes, which should be useful for setting upper limits. We have generated and provide a database of relevant research. Full systematic reviews, based on this scoping review, are needed to answer specific questions to set vitamin A requirements and upper limits.

Keywords: World Health Organization; carotenoids; child; infant; nutritional requirements; recommended dietary allowances; retinol; scoping review; upper limits; vitamin A.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest, except that G.L. was an author of some of the studies included in the dataset. The funders were involved in setting the question for the scoping reviews and agreeing the protocols, but had no role in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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