Green and yellow vegetables can maintain body stores of vitamin A in Chinese children
Tang, G.; Gu, X.; Hu, S.; Xu, Q.; Qin, J.; Dolnikowski, G.G.; Fjeld, C.R.; Gao, X.; Russell, R.M.; Yin, S.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 70(6): 1069-1076
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9165 PMID: 10584052 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/70.6.1069Document Number: 533913
The objective was to determine whether plant carotenoids can sustain or improve retinol nutrition during the fall season in kindergarten children in the Shandong province of China. The serum retinol concentration of 39% of the children was <1.05 micro mol/litre and of 61% of the children was >=1.05 micro mol/litre. For 5 days/week for 10 weeks, 22 children were provided ~238 g green-yellow vegetables/day and 34 g light-coloured vegetables/day. 19 children maintained their customary dietary intake, which included 56 g green-yellow vegetables and 224 g light-coloured vegetables/day. Octadeuterated and tetradeuterated vitamin A were given before and after the interventions, respectively, and their enrichments in the plasma were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations were measured by HPLC. Carotenoid nutrition improved after consumption of green-yellow vegetables. Serum concentrations of retinol were sustained in the group fed green-yellow vegetables but decreased in the group fed light-coloured vegetables (P<0.01). The isotope-dilution tests confirmed that total-body retinol stores were sustained in the group fed green-yellow vegetables, but decreased 27 micro mol (7700 micro g retinol) per child, on average, in the group fed light-coloured vegetables (P<0.06). It is concluded that green-yellow vegetables can provide adequate vitamin A nutrition in the diet of kindergarten children and protect them from becoming retinol deficient during seasons when the provitamin A food source is limited.