[Risk indicators of vitamin A deficiency in children younger than 15-years old from a slum area of Valencia, Venezuela].

Subclinical vitamin A (VA) deficiency is difficult to assess since there is not a single suitable indicator for every situation. With the objective of assessing VA status in a vulnerable group, 590 healthy children (< 15 years of age) from a low-income community of Valencia, Venezuela, were studied. VA intake was assessed through 24 hour dietary recalls, risk of VA intake deficiency was assessed following the IVACG methodology, VA status was assessed through serum retinol levels (HPLCr) and Conjunctival Impression Cytology (CIC) according to ICEPO methodology. The sample was characterized by age (less than 7 years old, from 7 to 10 years old, and 11 years old or older). Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (Mann Whitney, X2) were performed. According to IVACG, 0.6% were at high risk of deficiency, 8.8% had moderate risk and 90.6% had low risk. Results from serum retinol showed 0.7% of deficiency (< 20 micrograms/dl), and 25.1% of low levels (20-30 micrograms/dl); according to CIC, 11.1% of the sample was deficient. No relationship was found by age or sex. These prevalences identify the VA deficiency as a mild public health problem. Although there was no deficiency per se (< 10 micrograms/dl), this group has a higher vulnerability to infectious diseases since 25% of the sample showed low levels of serum retinol and 11.1% showed abnormalities in its epithelial cells.