What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A  is a fat-soluble micronutrient that is essential for physical development and helps strengthen the immune system to protect the body against infections.

How does Vitamin A affect children?

• Growth: Participates in the process of cell division to help children grow healthy and develop normally.
• Vision: Vitamin A plays a role in the process of seeing, especially at night.
• Epithelial protection: Vitamin A protects the integrity of the skin, eye mucosa, tracheal mucosa, small intestine and excretory glands.
• Immunity: Vitamin A enhances the body’s  immune system , increasing resistance to infectious diseases, tetanus, tuberculosis, measles, etc.

Where is Vitamin A found?

• Breast milk, especially colostrum, is rich in vitamin A. Therefore, exclusively breastfed babies do not need high doses of vitamin A supplements in the first 6 months of life.
• Foods of animal origin such as liver, meat, fish, eggs, milk, etc.
• Foods of plant origin, green, yellow and dark red vegetables and fruits such as spinach, amaranth, Malabar spinach, jute, Malabar spinach, broccoli, carrots, pumpkin, mango, papaya, gac fruit, etc.
• Because vitamin A is fat-soluble, a diet rich in fat will help absorb vitamin A well.

What causes vitamin A deficiency in children?

• Children are not breastfed.
• Children’s diets do not provide enough vitamin A and fat.
• Children often suffer from respiratory infections, recurrent diarrhea, measles, parasitic infections, etc.
• Children are severely malnourished.

What can be done to prevent vitamin A deficiency in children?

• To prevent vitamin A deficiency, infants and young children should be breastfed because breast milk is rich in vitamin A, especially colostrum. Mothers also need to take high doses of vitamin A (200,000 IU) immediately after birth to ensure that breast milk has enough vitamin A for their children.
• The diet should include enough foods rich in vitamin A. In addition to using foods rich in vitamin A, it should be accompanied by a diet with enough fat in the diet for vitamin A to be easily absorbed.
• Ensure environmental hygiene, prevent infection, and deworm.
• Supplement high doses of vitamin A. Children aged 6-36 months must be supplemented with high doses of vitamin A every 6 months (on June 1-2 and December 1-2) at vitamin A drinking points. Children under 5 years old who are at risk of vitamin A deficiency such as malnourished children, children with measles, or recurrent infections, prolonged diarrhea… also need to take high doses of vitamin A.
• Children aged 6-12 months: take 100,000 units.
• Children over 12-36 months: take 200,000 units.
• In case the child is about to be 6 months old or over 3 years old, it is necessary to consult a doctor before giving it.
• Children who are sick, have just been vaccinated or are about to be vaccinated can also take high doses of vitamin A.
• There are no dangerous side effects when supplementing high doses of vitamin A for children. Many parents often worry about side effects when hearing the words ‘high dose’, fearing that there will be excess vitamin A in the child’s body. However, high doses of vitamin A rarely cause dangerous side effects, except for some rare symptoms such as vomiting, loose stools or bulging fontanelles in children under 1 year old (these reactions will subside after 1-2 days).