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

What causes vitamin A deficiency in children?

The cause of  vitamin A deficiency  in children is not being breastfed. Children’s diets that do not provide enough vitamin A and fat also lead to vitamin A deficiency.

Children often suffer from respiratory infections, measles, recurrent diarrhea, parasitic infections, and severe malnutrition, which also lead to vitamin A deficiency.

How does vitamin A affect children?

Vitamin A participates in the process of cell division, helping children grow healthily and develop normally.

Vitamin A plays a role in the process of vision, especially at night. Vitamin A protects the integrity of the skin, eye mucosa, tracheal mucosa, small intestine, and excretory glands.

In addition, vitamin A enhances the body’s immune system, increasing resistance to infectious diseases, tetanus, tuberculosis, measles, etc.

When children are deficient in vitamin A, they will grow slowly and be stunted. Reduced ability to see in low light, also known as night blindness.

Vitamin A deficiency will cause damage to the cornea of ​​the eye, leading to blindness. Reduced resistance to disease, susceptible to severe infections, especially measles, diarrhea and respiratory infections… will lead to the risk of death in young children. Vitamin A deficiency also causes diseases such as measles, respiratory diseases, and prolonged diarrhea.

When children lack vitamin A, they will grow slowly and be stunted.

Where is vitamin A found?

• Breast milk, especially colostrum, is rich in vitamin A. Therefore, when babies are exclusively breastfed, they do not need to supplement high doses of vitamin A 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.

Therefore, 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 the baby.

To take care of children from the time they are in the womb, mothers need to eat a nutritious diet, supplemented with foods rich in Vitamin A. 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 so that Vitamin A can be easily absorbed.

Ensure environmental hygiene, prevent infections, and deworm.

In addition, it is necessary to supplement high doses of Vitamin A according to the recommendations of the health sector. Children 6 – 36 months old must be supplemented with high doses of Vitamin A every 6 months (on June 1 – 2 and December 1 – 2 every year) at local Vitamin A drinking points.

Note that exclusive breastfeeding for children from 0 – 6 months old is the most effective way to supplement Vitamin A. Feed children with a nutritious diet, train them to eat green vegetables, get them used to many types of food, do not indulge in their preferences, only feed them one type of food regularly. Food should be varied, suitable for taste and the factor that helps children eat well is beautifully presented food.

In addition, it is necessary to fully vaccinate children. Let children exercise and rest properly.

During the food processing process, there should be oil to help increase the absorption of vitamin A, because this is a fat-soluble vitamin.

Do not arbitrarily supplement vitamin A for children. If you arbitrarily supplement vitamin A in large amounts or for a long time, it will lead to excess vitamin A. Excess vitamin A will cause poisoning, increase intracranial pressure leading to nausea, vomiting, headache. In young children, there are symptoms of bulging fontanelles.

In addition,  excess vitamin A  will affect bone development, causing children to grow slowly, have neurological disorders and many other consequences such as itchy psoriasis, congestion of the skin and mucous membranes, dry, brittle, brittle hair, inflammation of the oral mucosa, dry lips, cracked lips, enlarged liver, peeling skin on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

Especially for women before pregnancy and in the first 3 months of pregnancy, if they supplement too much vitamin A, it can cause cleft palate; malformations of the cardiovascular system, muscles, bones, central nervous system…