Me. Romeroabal et al., BLOOD RETINOL AND BETA-CAROTENE LEVELS IN RURAL GUATEMALAN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN, European journal of epidemiology, 11(2), 1995, pp. 133-139
Plasma retinol and beta-carotene levels were measured in 502 preschool
Guatemalan children from five rural hamlets. Their ages ranged from 6
to 78 months (mean: 42.9 +/- 19.2 months); 45% males and 55% females.
The mean retinol value in the whole group was 0.9 +/- 0.4 mu mol/l (r
ange: 0.1 to 8.4 mu mol/l). There was no significant difference betwee
n sexes in retinol mean values nor in the incidence of retinol values
less than 0.7 mu mol/l (22% in males, 18% in females). When grouped by
age and community, significant low retinol mean values were found in
two hamlets in the youngest age group (12 to 23 months) as compared to
the other age-groups (p < 0.05). In the other two hamlets, there were
no significant differences among retinol means by age-group. The high
est prevalence of deficient retinol values by age-group was in the 12
to 23 months group (40%), and decreased as age increased. The mean val
ue for beta-carotene in the whole group was 0.13 +/- 0.18 mu mol/l (ra
nge: 0.01 to 2.23 mu mol/l). There were no significant differences in
beta-carotene means between sexes in the whole group. Stratifying the
beta-carotene data by age-groups and community, values were significan
tly higher in the 48-59 months and 72-83 months groups, as compared wi
th the other age groups in two of the communities (p < 0.05). Signific
ant, differences across communities for beta-carotene were found only
in the 12 to 23 months group.