1. Estimating the impact of vitamin A-fortified vegetable oil in Bangladesh in the absence of dietary assessment data.
- Author
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Fiedler JL, Lividini K, and Bermudez OI
- Subjects
- Adult, Bangladesh epidemiology, Computer Simulation, Databases, Factual, Diet adverse effects, Diet economics, Diet ethnology, Diet Surveys, Family Characteristics, Feasibility Studies, Female, Health Impact Assessment, Humans, Male, Prevalence, Vitamin A therapeutic use, Vitamin A Deficiency diet therapy, Vitamin A Deficiency epidemiology, Vitamin A Deficiency ethnology, Dietary Fats, Unsaturated, Food, Fortified analysis, Models, Biological, Nutrition Policy, Plant Oils chemistry, Vitamin A administration & dosage, Vitamin A Deficiency prevention & control
- Abstract
Objective: Vitamin A deficiency is a serious health problem in Bangladesh. The 2011-12 Bangladesh Micronutrient Survey found 76·8% of children of pre-school age were vitamin A deficient. In the absence of nationally representative, individual dietary assessment data, we use an alternative--household income and expenditure survey data--to estimate the potential impact of the introduction of vitamin A-fortified vegetable oil in Bangladesh., Design: Items in the household income and expenditure survey were matched to food composition tables to estimate households' usual vitamin A intakes. Then, assuming (i) the intra-household distribution of food is in direct proportion to household members' share of the household's total adult male consumption equivalents, (ii) all vegetable oil that is made from other-than mustard seed and that is purchased is fortifiable and (iii) oil fortification standards are implemented, we modelled the additional vitamin A intake due to the new fortification initiative., Setting: Nationwide in Bangladesh., Subjects: A weighted sample of 12,240 households comprised of 55,580 individuals., Results: Ninety-nine per cent of the Bangladesh population consumes vegetable oil. The quantities consumed are sufficiently large and, varying little by socio-economic status, are able to provide an important, large-scale impact. At full implementation, vegetable oil fortification will reduce the number of persons with inadequate vitamin A intake from 115 million to 86 million and decrease the prevalence of inadequate vitamin A intake from 80% to 60%., Conclusions: Vegetable oil is an ideal fortification vehicle in Bangladesh. Its fortification with vitamin A is an important public health intervention.
- Published
- 2015
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