Cassava Intake and Vitamin A Status among Women and Preschool Children in Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria

• Published in: PloS one 2015-06, Vol.10 (6), p.e0129436
• Main Authors: De Moura, Fabiana F, Moursi, Mourad, Lubowa, Abdelrahman, Ha, Barbara, Boy, Erick, Oguntona, Babatunde, Sanusi, Rasaki A, Maziya-Dixon, Busie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute phase proteins; Acute phase substances; Adolescent; Adult; Age; Biofuels; Calcium; Carotenoids; Cassava; Child, Preschool; Children; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Dietary intake; Female; Ferritin; Food; Health aspects; Households; Humans; Infant; Infections; Iron; Iron - metabolism; Local government; Male; Manihot; Manihot esculenta; Micronutrients; Middle Aged; Nigeria - epidemiology; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Oils & fats; Palm oil; Preschool children; Proteins; Recall; Retention; Sample size; Surveys; Vitamin A; Vitamin A - metabolism; Vitamin A Deficiency - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129436

As part of the HarvestPlus provitamin A-biofortified cassava program in Nigeria we conducted a survey to determine the cassava intake and prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among children 6-59 months and women of childbearing age in the state of Akwa Ibom. A cluster-randomized cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2011 in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The usual food and nutrient intakes were estimated using a multi-pass 24-hour recall with repeated recall on a subsample. Blood samples of children and women were collected to analyze for serum retinol, serum ferritin, and acute phase proteins as indicators of infection. Vitamin A deficiency was defined as serum retinol