Re: [pronut-hiv] Vitamin A Deficiency Is a Major Challenge Facing Africa (2)

["Kristof & Stacia Nordin" <nordin@eomw.net>]

Of course vitamin A is a major problem, the majority of diets are largely 
deficient in it!

I was astonished at the micronutrient survey results in Malawi in 2001 that found Vitamin A deficiency (using plasma vitamin A of less than 10mcg/dl) in about:
60 percent of pre-school children  (6-36 mo)
38 percent of school children (6-12 yrs)
58 percent of women of childbearing age (15-45 yrs)
37 percent of adult men (22-55 yrs)

I really thought that adult men would be doing better with the higher access they have to the higher quality food stuffs, but this study, involving about 1,500 people found that they weren't.

Yes supplementation could solve our nutrient deficiencies - we could all 
start just skipping over the agricultural systems altogether and take a 
handful of pills every morning.  But why not instead all get behind the idea of really  improving our agricultural systems, our programs and our lives and grow and eat a wide variety of foods to get everything we need?  It is a feasible solution in every situation I've ever been exposed to thus far in my life (I've thankfully not been exposed to war or natural disasters) - otherwise we just need to open our eyes to the possibilities and start living it to believe it for ourselves.

Stacia

----- "ProNut-HIV" wrote:

> Vitamin A Deficiency Is a Major Challenge Facing Africa
> Helen Keller International (New York)
>
> PRESS RELEASE
> January 6, 2006
> New York
>
> In a recent analysis, Helen Keller International (HKI) determines that
> nearly half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of vitamin
> A deficiency (VAD). In an article of the Food and Nutrition Bulletin,
> Victor Aguayo, UNICEF Regional Nutrition Advisor for West and Central
> Africa and former HKI Regional Nutrition Advisor, and Shawn Baker, HKI
> Regional Director for Africa, published their findings from 11
> nationally representative VAD surveys conducted in sub-Saharan Africa.
> The authors have identified VAD as a major challenge facing Africa in
> the coming years and issued a call to action to meet this urgent need.
> Produced by HKI, the article was funded by the United States Agency for
> International Development, the Canadian International Development
> Agency, and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI).
>
> Prior estimates of VAD worldwide were developed by MI in collaboration
> with Tulane University and UNICEF from surveys completed between 1987
> and 1995. These estimates were critical in advancing policies and
> programs for VAD control, but concerns arose that they may have
> underestimated the problem and underplayed VAD's critical role in child
> mortality. In the recent analysis conducted by Aguayo and Baker, they
> sought to determine accurate numbers of children currently at risk for
> VAD in order to see how effective policies and programs could be in
> controlling it. Aguayo and Baker calculated predicted levels of VAD by
> combining the MI/Tulane University/UNICEF estimates and the present
> population of children under five years of age. They then compared those
> levels to data from surveys conducted between 1997 and 2003, finding
> that, in fact, there had been a more than twofold underestimation of the
> actual VAD problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, Aguayo and Baker
> applied the corrected estimates to the measured effects of VAD on child
> mortality to show the impact that VAD has on child mortality levels.
>
> The authors discovered that a startling 42.4% of children under the age
> of five - or 43.2 million children - in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk
> of this life-threatening deficiency in the absence of sustained policies
> and programs. Moreover, they concluded that efforts for VAD control,
> including large-scale vitamin A supplementation, could bring about a 25%
> reduction in child mortality.
>
> Aguayo and Baker assert that VAD control has the potential to be one of
> the most cost-effective and high-impact child survival interventions in
> sub-Saharan Africa. Calling for a stronger political commitment and a
> more appropriate level of investment in VAD control, the authors write,
> "The need is urgent, and the solutions are known, effective and
> affordable." Aguayo and Baker recommend periodic, active distribution of
> vitamin A supplements through national governments and other existing
> permanent institutions, and improved vitamin A dietary intake cycle
> through better breastfeeding practices and fortifying foods with vitamin
> A.
>