Meeting requirements for vitamin A

When the intake of foods or pharmaceutical preparations containing sufficie nt nutrients of adequate bioavailability are consumed, nutrient requirement s are met and optimal nutritional status is maintained. Recent studies have shown that the basis for describing vitamin A activity of carotenoids over estimates the bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids and their bioconv ersion to retinol (vitamin A). it is therefore proposed that instead of 6 m ug from a mixed diet, 21 mug beta -carotene are required to provide I mug o f retinol or I RE (retinol equivalent) of vitamin A. Based on this assumpti on and on data from food balance sheets, estimates of daily per capita vita min A intake expressed in RE in Africa, South America, and Asia are reduced from 895, 599, and 667, respectively, to 371, 372, and 258, respectively S uch intakes are well below the recommended daily intake of 600 RE for adult males. A new combination of approaches will therefore have to be used to c ombat vitamin A deficiency rather than that used up until now.