COMMUNITY NUTRITION 3 (1+2)

Lesson 9 : Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD)

Prevalence and Magnitude

1. The corneal xeropthalmia has been reported to be 0.05-0.1 per 100 preschool children in south India.
2. A great majority of the cases of corneal xerophthlmia occur between 1 and 3 years, coinciding with the park prevalence of severe protein energy malnutrition.
3. Children from rural and tribal families belonging to low-income group are more vulnerable to Vitamin A deficiency.
4. Recent NNMB surveys indicate that there is a decline in the prevalence of Bitot spots in preschool children from 2% in 1975-79 to about 0.2% in 2004-05.
5. WHO –Government of India National Survey (1989) reports that Vit A deficiency contribute to only 0.04% of the total blindness in India.
6. Over the past two decades there appears to be a decline in the magnitude of xerophtalmia , though is still remains an important public health nutrition problem in India.