Vitamin A deficiency in urban slums

Although there is substantial documentation of prevalence, severity and health consequences of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in preschool-aged children, very few studies have been done to find out the extent of VAD in primary school children. Present study was carried out in school children (5-15 years age) from slum areas of Ahmedabad city to see the prevalence of xerophthalmia. The present study was designed as a cross sectional study conducted in primary schools of urban slums in Ahmedabad from October 2007 to July 2008. 1000 children were randomly selected from 10 schools and examined with predesigned and pretested Performa.Xerophthalmia was diagnosed if there was history of night blindness, or on examination, there were signs of conjunctival xerosis, Bitot¿s spots, corneal xerosis or keratomalacia. The collected information was analysed by using the Microsoft Excel and the Epi info 3.4 software.In this study prevalence of VAD was found to be 2.9%. Prevalence of VAD among girls (4.1%) was significantly high than boys (1.9%). In present study 0.5% cases of night blindness, 1.4% cases of conjunctival xerosis and 2.1% cases of Bitot¿s spot were found.