Vitamin A Deficiency among School Going Adolescents in Rural Areas of BareillyAjay Kumar Agarwal

Objective: 1. To find out the prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) on the basis of presence of bitot’s spot and conjunctival xerosis among rural school going adolescents of District Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. 2. To identify the associated factors and to suggest the suitable measures to prevent VAD among them.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Field practices areas Department of Community Medicine RMC&H Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh India, between Jan 2012 to Dec 2012.
Participants: 900 school going adolescents.
Sampling: Multistage sampling method. A structured schedule was used to collect the information.
Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed with SPSS 17. Significant difference was determined using Chi- square test.
Results: The overall prevalence of VAD was found to be 42.22%. It was higher in 15-19 years of age group adolescents (48.77%) as compare to 10-14 years (41.6%). The prevalence of VAD was slightly higher among boys (p value=0.666). Out of total 398 (42.22%) VAD adolescents 300 adolescents were from socioeconomic class V.
Conclusion: Nutrition education regarding regular intake of foods rich in vitamin A rich is needed to prevent the deficiency.