Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of vitamin A supplementation 24 h after delivery on breastmilk retinol concentration. Methods: Fifty low income women were randomly assigned to a single oral dose of 209 μmol of Vitamin A or none at delivery. Maternal serum and breastmilk retinol levels and infant morbidity and anthropometry were serially assessed. Results: Mean (95% CI) serum retinol levels increased in the supplemented mothers at 2.77 (2.3, 3.2) compared to 1.15 (0.9, 1.4) μmol/l in controls (P < 0.05) and remained at a significantly higher level of 1.59 (1.4, 1.8) μmul/l compared to 1.33 (1.8, 1.5) μmol/l in the control group (P < 0.001) up to a period of three months. Breastmilk retinol concentration was also greater at 24 h after supplementation, mean (CI) 11.34 (9.0, 13.7) μmol/l, compared to 2.95 (2.3, 3.6) μmol/l in the control group (P < 0.0001), and remained higher for the next six months at 1.06 (0.9,,1.3) μmol/l compared to 0.73 (0.6, 0.8) μmol/l in the control group (P < 0.02). Infants of the supplemented mothers had reduced mean duration of respiratory tract infection of 3.1 (2.7, 3.5) days compared to 3.7 (3.3, 4.2) days (P < 0.03) and mean incidence of febrile illness 0.1 (0.1, 0.1) compared to control infants 0.3 (0.3, 0.3) days, (P < 0.002). Conclusion: Vitamin A supplementation of malnourished mothers maintains higher breastmilk retinol concentration for at least six months and reduces the duration of respiratory tract infection and febrile illness in their breastfed infants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 302-307 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1997 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgement—This study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). The ICDDR,B is supported by the aid agencies of the Governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States; international organizations including Arab Gulf Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Union, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO); private foundations including Aga Khan Foundation, Child Health Foundation (CHF), Ford Foundation, Population Council, Rockefeller Foundation and the Sasakawa Foundation; and private organizations including American Express Bank, Bayer A.G., CARE, Family Health International, Helen Keller International, the Johns Hopkins University, Macro International, New England Medical Centre, Procter Gamble, RAND Corporation, SANDOZ, Swiss Red Cross and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Iowa, and others. We thank Ms. Rekha Chanda and Mr. Dipak Barua for field work, Drs. Iqbal Kabir and Rafiqul Islam for reviewing the manuscript and Mr. K.M. Rafiq for preparation of this manuscript.
Funding
Acknowledgement—This study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). The ICDDR,B is supported by the aid agencies of the Governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States; international organizations including Arab Gulf Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Union, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO); private foundations including Aga Khan Foundation, Child Health Foundation (CHF), Ford Foundation, Population Council, Rockefeller Foundation and the Sasakawa Foundation; and private organizations including American Express Bank, Bayer A.G., CARE, Family Health International, Helen Keller International, the Johns Hopkins University, Macro International, New England Medical Centre, Procter Gamble, RAND Corporation, SANDOZ, Swiss Red Cross and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Iowa, and others. We thank Ms. Rekha Chanda and Mr. Dipak Barua for field work, Drs. Iqbal Kabir and Rafiqul Islam for reviewing the manuscript and Mr. K.M. Rafiq for preparation of this manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| American Express Bank | |
| Governments of Australia | |
| New England Medical Centre | |
| United Nations Development Programme | |
| Ford Foundation | |
| United States Agency for International Development | |
| Rockefeller Foundation, The | |
| UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Bayer AG | |
| Proctor and Gamble | |
| World Health Organization | |
| Asian Development Bank Philippines | |
| Aga Khan Foundation | |
| RAND Corporation | |
| Population Council | |
| United Nations Fund for Population Activities | |
| United Nations Population Fund | |
| American Red Cross | |
| The Johns Hopkins University | |
| University of Northern Iowa | |
| FHI 360 | |
| Sandoz | |
| University of Alabama | |
| Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education | |
| Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation | |
| European Commission | |
| International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh | |
| Chettinad Academy of Research and Education |
Keywords
- Breastmilk
- Children
- Morbidity
- Postpartum
- Retinol
- Vitamin A deficiency
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Nutrition and Dietetics
