Table 1

Characteristics of Kaya pupils and serum retinol changes


Baseline (T0)
Endline (T1)
p value

(n = 214)



% girls
43.0
-
-
Age (months)
102 ± 19
-
-
Height-for-age Z-score
-0.045 ± 1.40
-0.15 ± 1.36
0.013
BMI-for-age Z-score
-1.0 ± 0.89
-0.99 ± 1.0
0.80
Serum retinol (μmol/L)



     Total
0.77 ± 0.37
1.07 ± 0.4
<0.001
     Girls
0.79 ± 0.37
1.16 ± 0.45**
<0.001
     Boys
0.78 ± 0.37
0.99 ± 0.34**
<0.001
Serum retinol <0.70 μmol/L (%)



     Total
47.2 (40.5–53.9)
13.1 (8,6–17.6)
<0.001
     Girls
46.7 (36.7–56.7)
8.7 (3–14.4) ‡
<0.001
     Boys
47.5 (38.7–56.3)
16.4 (9.9–22.9) ‡
<0.001
Serum retinol <0.35 μmol/L (%)
15.0(8.0–22.0) ‡‡
0
-
Mean serum retinol change in <0.7 μmol/L subjects at baseline n = 101 (%)
-
48.7± 23.5
-
Mean serum retinol change in ≥0.70 μmol/L subjects at baseline n = 113 (%)
-
-10.0± 43.4
-

Mean ± SD or % (CI 95%)

** At T1, mean serum retinol significantly higher in girls than in boys (p = 0. 02)

‡ At T1, rate of low serum retinol tends to be lower in girls (p = 0.098)

‡‡ The rate of very low serum retinol not different in boys and girls (p = 0.20)

† Change = [100*(Serum retinol T1 – serum retinol T0)/Serum retinol T0], significantly higher (p < 0.001) in deficient subjects at baseline

Zeba et al. Nutrition Journal 2006 5:17   doi:10.1186/1475-2891-5-17