A deficiência de vitamina A em crianças no Brasil e no mundo

Abstract

Based on a ten-year literature review, this paper describes important aspects of Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) among children in Brazil and worldwide. It presents VAD within a clinical and sub-clinical deficiency context, emphasizing this as a public health issue. VAD has been diagnosed in children from several parts of Brazil, especially in the Southeast and Northeast. Worldwide, the highest VAD prevalence is found in parts of parts of Africa: Mali, Ethiopia and Nigeria, and clinical indications noted especially in parts of Asia and Africa. However, no studies of clinical indications were located. Studies point to VAD as a public health issue among children, particularly in the poorest parts of the world.

Carotene and provitamin A content of vegetables sold in Viçosa, MG, Brazil, during spring and winter

“…Strategies to combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries are based on the consumption of foods rich in provitamin carotenoids (Zanutto, Jordão, Vannucchi, 2003;Gibson, Hotz, 2001). Intervention programs should be adopted in Brazil to prevent and/or reduce vitamin A deficiency, including nutritional education and food fortification for risk populations (Milagres, Nunes, Pinheiro-Sant'Ana, 2007).…”

“…Strategies to combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries are based on the consumption of foods rich in provitamin carotenoids (Zanutto, Jordão, Vannucchi, 2003;Gibson, Hotz, 2001). Intervention programs should be adopted in Brazil to prevent and/or reduce vitamin A deficiency, including nutritional education and food fortification for risk populations (Milagres, Nunes, Pinheiro-Sant'Ana, 2007).However, numerous factors may interfere with the carotenoid content of foods, such as maturation stage (Rodriguez-Amaya, 2000), differences between plant varieties (Olson, 1999), climate conditions, soil type, effect of agrochemicals, differences in distribution among distinct parts of the plant, cultivation conditions, presence of damage to the plant structure, exposure to light, and storage and processing conditions (Amaya-Farfan, 1999). One important factor affecting the carotenoid content of foods is the commercialization condition of vegetables by establishments such as street and local markets.…”

Vitamina A e diabetes gestacional

“…It is known then that pre-school children with deficient vitamin A reserves in the body present a higher risk of death by diarrhea, respiratory infections, and chicken pox than children with adequate vitamin A state, since it has a protective role against these complications. [6][7][8] VAD is the main cause for permanent blindness followed by death among children in developing countries, contributing also to a significant increase in children morbidity and mortality rates associated to infectious processes. 50 In VAD, the integrity of epithelial barriers and immune system are involved before visual function alterations, 49 possibly impairing the immune response, leading to a higher prevalence and severity in infections, involving the healing process, which is so important for the diabetes mellitus patient.…”

A educação nutricional nos programas oficiais de prevenção da deficiência da vitamina A no Brasil

“…Cerca de cinco a dez milhões de crianças por ano apresentam deficiência subclínica; 250 milhões apresentam sinais clínicos e bioquímicos, sendo mais gravemente atingidas, com registros de 250 mil a 500 mil novos casos de cegueira por ano 1 . O Brasil não dispõe de um inquérito em nível nacional sobre a prevalência da DVA, porém foram realizadas várias pesquisas nos últimos quarenta anos que utilizaram indicadores clínicos, bioquímicos e/ou dietéticos, cujos resultados estão agrupados e comentados em trabalhos de revisão sobre a situação da DVA no país [2][3][4][5][6][7] . Segundo publicação recente intitulada "Carências de Micronutrientes" 8 a DVA é problema de saúde pública no Brasil, um dos países mais afetados na América, atingindo principalmente as crianças em idade pré-escolar.…”