A community based study of vitamin A and vitamin E status of adolescent girls living in the Shire valley, Southern Malawi

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Abstract
Objective: To assess vitamin A and E status and anaemia in non-pregnant Malawian adolescent girls. Design: A cross-sectional study in rural village communities in the Shire Valley, Southern Malawi. Subjects: Adolescent girls, n=118, aged between 10 and 19 y, 112 of whom were unmarried. Methods: Socio-demographic information was collected by questionnaire, heights and weights were measured. Vitamin A was assessed by the Modified Relative Dose Response (MRDR) test, in addition to serum retinol values. Blood samples were collected 4–5 h after administration of 3,4-didehydroretinyl acetate. Retinol and α-tocopherol levels were measured by HPLC. Serum retinol results for non-pregnant girls were compared with values for 43 adolescent pregnant girls which were available from a previous study. Results: 26.6% of non-pregnant girls had serum retinol values 0.060. In 59.3%, serum tocopherol levels were P=0.01). Serum retinol values of adolescent pregnant girls were significantly lower than those of non-pregnant adolescents (P=0.002). Conclusions: Vitamin A and E deficiency and anaemia were common in adolescent non-pregnant girls, and thought to partly result from increased growth requirements. Girls who become pregnant at an early age are at risk of depletion of their nutritional reserves. Measures to reduce nutritional deficiencies before the first pregnancy are needed. Sponsorship: Shell Fellowship (Liverpool), European Union and Department for International Development.

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