Vitamin A intake and status.

OBJECTIVE

To review the methodology for vitamin A intake and status assessment and to discuss available data on vitamin A intake and status in the Netherlands.

CONCLUSIONS

For diagnosis of a deficient vitamin A status, a number of valid biochemical and functional tests and criteria for interpretation are available. However, the sensitivity and specificity of most tests for assessment of the vitamin A status in the suboptimal and/or marginal range seem troublesome. The average vitamin A intake in the Netherlands (adult men 830 RE; adult women 650 RE) is slightly below the Dutch RDA (men 1000 RE; women 800 RE. In particular, individuals avoiding liver and liver products have lower intakes and might have limited stores. The functional significance of these findings remains to be established.