[Vitamin A status in pregnant adolescents of low socioeconomic income].

Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient for growth, especially in highly proliferative and development stages as in pregnancy. When maternal vitamin A is deficient, fetal demands does not allow to maintain maternal reserves and subclinical deficiency appears. Due to the fact that pregnancy is a period of vulnerability to nutritional deficiencies, 75 pregnant adolescent (16.4 +/- 1.2 years old), were studied along prenatal control visits during pregnancy for vitamin A status. Data on serum retinol was obtained in each trimester through fasting blood collection, and determination by high pressure liquid chromatography. Two-24 hour recalls during each trimester were used to assess dietary intake. Statistical analysis (descriptive, frequency distribution, paired t-test and Fisher's exact test) were performed. Mean serum retinol values decreased significantly (p < 0.05) along trimesters. There was not vitamin A deficiency by serum retinol indicator at any trimester, but at third trimester, 30.3% of the women showed marginal serum retinol values (20-30 mg/gL). Dietary intake, adjusted for recommendations for each trimester, increased significantly as pregnancy continued. These findings indicate that even though serum retinol (vitamin A) deficiency was not present at any time during pregnancy in these adolescents, risk of deficiency increased toward the end; and that the increase of vitamin A intake at the end of pregnancy does not change the decline in serum retinol. Monitoring and nutritional intervention of this vulnerable group is recommended in order to promote a healthy mother and newborn.