Evaluation of vitamin A supplements in Ghanaian postpartum mothers

Vitamin A (VA) deficiency is a major public health problem in many developing countries. The length of time postpartum mothers were protected against VA depletion after receiving either 400,000 IU of VA in two divided doses or one 200,000 IU and a placebo dose 24 hour apart was determined. Secondly, the improvement in the vitamin A status of postpartum mothers on daily feeding 200 g (2.6 mg of Beta-carotene, 1508 IU of VA) of African eggplant leaves for three months was investigated. A significant improvement in VAS occurred within the treatment groups as assessed by the MRDR test at each time point (P < 0.0034), and both the 200,000 and 400,000 IU doses maintained VA adequacy for five months. There was a significant improvement in the VAS as assessed by MRDR test within the intervention group over the three months period (P = 0.0001) for leafy group.... Mehr