Socio-economic status and serum vitamin A levels in Zambian children

Abstract

A vitamin A survey was conducted among school children attending primary schools located in urban residential compounds categorised according to their socio-economic status based on average income, as well as in pre-school children from one compound. The study was done in order to find out the effect of socio-economic status on the distribution of vitamin A levels and to ascertain whether vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in Zambian children. A total of 814 school going and 381 pre-school children were studied. The serum samples were analysed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Using a Chi square analysis there was a significant difference in the results between the more affluent areas with higher monthly average income and the less affluent ones (p < 0.05) showing that the socio-economic status of communities is an important factor in interpreting the distribution of vitamin A levels in children. Vitamin A deficiency was found to be a public health problem only in the pre-school age group. Intervention efforts to reduce vitamin A deficiency should mainly target this group.

PIP: Vitamin A status was assessed among 433 children aged 7-15 years and 381 preschoolers in the following urban residential areas of Ndola district: Kansenshi, Masala, Chifubu, Chibolele, Kabwata, Lumano, and Nkwazi. Serum samples were analyzed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography. The study was conducted to determine the effect of socioeconomic status upon the distribution of vitamin A levels and whether vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in Zambian children. Vitamin A levels were significantly higher among children from affluent areas compared to children from less affluent ones. However, vitamin A deficiency was found to be a public health problem only among preschool children. The socioeconomic status of communities is therefore clearly an important factor in interpreting the distribution of vitamin A levels among children.