Vitamins A, and C and folate status in Mexican children under 12 years and women 12-49 years: A probabilistic national survey

Objective. To describe the epidemiology of Vitamin A andC and folic acid deficiencies and their association with sociodemographicand dietary factors in a national probabilisticsample of Mexican women and children. Material andMethods. This is a probabilistic sample from the NationalNutrition Survey 1999 (ENN-99) including 1 966 childrenand 920 women. Vitamins A and C were measured in serumby high-performance liquid chromatography, and folic acidin total blood by a microbiological method. Determinantsfor such deficiencies were explored by multiple regressionmodels. Results. Vitamin A deficiency (retinol <10 mg/dl)was rare in both children and women. But subclinical deficiency(retinol >10 and <20 mg/dl) was present in 25% ofchildren. The likelihood of subclinical deficiency of vitaminA was less in older children (OR=0.98, p=0.01) and in womenwith higher body mass index (OR=0.93, p=0.01). About 30%of children <2 years of age and 40% of women were vitaminC deficient. The likelihood of vitamin C deficiency was lessin children and women as socioeconomic level increased(OR=0.69, p=0.03, and OR=0.80, p=0.04), and higher in olderwomen (OR=1.02, p=0.05). The prevalence of folate deficiencyvaried in children (2.3 to 11.2), in women it was 5%.Folate deficiency was less in children of higher socioeconomiclevel (OR=0.62, p=0.01 ), and in those eating morevegetables (OR= 0.22, p=0.01). Conclusions. The high prevvialenceof subclinical deficiency of vitamin A in children isindicative of risk of further deterioration under adversecircumstances. Vitamin C deficiency in both children andwomen implies in addition diminished ability for iron absorption.The English version of this paper is available tooat: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html