Prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among pre-school and school aged children in Arssi zone, Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate vitamin A status of pre-school and school aged children in the study area. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Arssi, Ethiopia. SUBJECTS: Four hundred and two children. RESULTS: Night blindness, Bitots spot, corneal xerosis, corneal ulceration and corneal scar were observed in 7.2%, 2.2 %, 0.2%, 0.5%, and 0.5% of the children respectively. The prevalence of xerophthalmia was higher in school aged children than pre-school children (P< 0.0001). Based on the WHO recommended cut-off level, serum retinol levels were in the "low" range (<20 microl/dl) in 51% of the children. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a public health problem in Arssi, with higher prevalence among school aged children than pre-school children.