Chapter 8 - 1

Chapter 8

Text Insertion Questions

01 Nutrition

Vitamin A Deficiency in the World

The human body needs a host of vitamins and minerals to keep it functioning properly.

A) While one’s diet supplies the majority of vitamin intake, some people must find other sources to provide the vitamins necessary to sustain them.

B) These can be derived from a number of foods such as milk, liver, eggs, red and orange fruits, and green leafy vegetables.

C) However, the amount of vitamin A in food can vary greatly, depending on geographic region and the quality of available food.

D) In developing countries, available food is generally insufficient for one’s daily intake of vitamins.

Deficiency in vitamin A is quite prevalent in children, especially when exacerbated by illness.

A) A lack of adequate vitamin A at a young age can lead to blindness. It is recorded as the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness.

B) Vitamin−deficient children have a twenty-three percent greater risk of contracting and dying from measles or malaria.

Children need vitamin A to grow.

However, they lose large amounts of it when they fight infection.

C) It is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) that 100 to 140 million children under the age of five may be suffering from vitamin A deficiency.

By targeting children between six months and five years of age, agencies are working to bring vitamin A to those who need it.

D) Agency workers apply various plans of action to manage vitamin A deficiency. This is done in an effort to increase child survival rates, reduce the seriousness of childhood illness, and ease the subsequent strain on healthcare facilities.

A) The three control strategies for deficiency are supplementation, food fortification, and dietary diversification. For supplementation, international recommendations call for the administration of high doses of vitamin A.

B) The supplements, typically in capsule form, are given to children under the age of five every four to six months. This provides a safe, cost-efficient solution that eliminates the deficiency and improves survival.

C) Increasingly, food fortification, the second solution, is reaching countries through mediums such as sugar, oil, milk, and other basic food items. While this option is effective overall, it can take many years to implement and reach families in need.

D) Non−animal sources currently provide eighty percent of the intake for developing countries.

However, the present need for vitamin A requires ten times the current quantity available. By increasing food from animals, agencies can provide diets richer in vitamin A.

Internationally, the goal is to eliminate vitamin A deficiency in children and thus decrease preventable health issues.

Countries providing supplements twice a year reach a minimum of seventy percent of children needing treatment. This is considered effective coverage.

With the continuation of supplementation and other programs, vitamin A deficiency could be effectively eradicated in the near future.