ISHS Acta Horticulturae 583: I International Conference on Sweetpotato. Food and Health for the Future
DIETARY INTERVENTION WITH ORANGE FLESHED SWEETPOTATO (IPOMOEA BATATAS (L.) LAM.) TO ALLEVIATE VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY IN SOUTH AND WEST ASIA |
| Authors: | P.K. Mukherjee, S. Ilangantileke |
| Keywords: | Vitamin A deficiency, orange fleshed sweetpotato, beta-carotene |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.583.23 |
| Abstract:
Vitamin A deficiency is the world’s most common cause of childhood blindness. WHO estimated that 228 million children are affected subclinically and 500,000 children become partially or totally blind every year. In South and West Asia (SWA), especially in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, it is a serious health problem. In Bangladesh, one million children have clinical signs of this deficiency. The Government of Sri Lanka recognizes it as a major health problem and in India it causes an estimated 40,000 children to go blind each year. Improving vitamin A status reduces infant mortality by 23%. However, the magnitude of impact is insignificant despite efforts put into formulating tablets, capsules and injection over the past decades. Dietary programs involving the production of vitamin A rich food products, nutrition education and monitoring of vitamin A status, helps alleviate this problem. Among vitamin A rich foods, orange fleshed sweetpotato is a cheap source of vitamin A in addition to other health enhancing features. Development of orange fleshed sweetpotato through participatory breeding and its dissemination to farmer’s field could increase consumption and availability of vitamin A among the poor in poverty stricken areas. Promotion of orange fleshed sweetpotato in household diets through nutrition education, particularly for pregnant women and mothers of children under ages of 5 years, could improve vitamin A status. Retinol levels in the blood, retinyl palmitate levels in breast milk and night blindness are core clinical indicators to monitor and evaluate programs on sweetpotato designed to overcome the problem. | |
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