Skip Navigation

Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2001 47(2):67-72; doi:10.1093/tropej/47.2.67
© 2001 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sivan, Y. S.
Right arrow Articles by Sarma, P. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sivan, Y. S.
Right arrow Articles by Sarma, P. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Impact of B-carotene Supplementation Through Red Palm Oil

Y. S. Sivan1, Y. Alwin Jayakumar1, C. Arumughan1, A. Sundaresan1, C. Balachandran1, Joseph Job1, S. S. Deepa1, S. L. Shihina1, Malathi Damodaran2, C. R. Soman3, V. Raman Kutty3 and P. Sankara Sarma4

1 Regional Research Laboratory (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research), Trivandrum, India 2 Sri Sathya Sai Trust Hospital, Trivandrum, India 3 Health Action by People, Pettah, Trivandrum, India 4 Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies (Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology), Trivandrum, India

A 10-month long feeding trial was conducted to assess the impact of ß-carotene supplementation through red palm oil (RPO) with the focus on vitamin A status, morbidity status and acceptability of an RPO-incorporated noon-meal as a dietary supplement among two cohorts of 409 (experimental) and 346 (control) preschool children in two southern districts of rural Tamil Nadu, selected by stratified random sampling. Information was gathered on ocular symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and anthropometry, and blood samples were drawn at baseline and final rounds for estimation of serum ß-carotene, retinol and tocopherol. Data about Socioeconomic Status (SES) were collected once during the study period, while information on attendance, consumption and morbidity was recorded by preschool teachers. The results showed the following.

1. Significant improvement in the vitamin A status of children in terms of disappearance of Bitot's spots (50.0 per cent) in the experimental group vs. 28.0 per cent in the control group.

2. After feeding of RPO, incidence rate of new Bitot's spots cases was low at 2.13 in the experimental children vs. 4.78 in control children.

3. Marked improvement in the serum ß-carotene levels after 10 months of feeding.

4. RPO is acceptable to children as an edible grade oil as there is no perceptible difference in the consumption pattern between experimental and control children.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.