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Dietary intake of preformed vitamin A and provitamin A carotenoids are not associated with serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations among children 36–59 months of age in rural Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the association between dietary intake of preformed vitamin A (VA) and pro-VA carotenoids and serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations among 36–59-month-old children in a rural area in Burkina Faso.

Methods

Two community-based cross-sectional studies were conducted in a rural area of Burkina Faso and included 115 children aged 36–59 months. Dietary intake of preformed VA and pro-VA was assessed directly by 24-h dietary recall. Serum retinol and carotenoid (α- and β-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin) concentrations were measured. The associations between serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations and their respective dietary intake were assessed by multiple linear regression.

Results

Geometric mean [95% CI] adjusted serum retinol concentration in children was 0.86 [0.81; 0.92] µmol/L. The prevalence of low adjusted serum retinol concentration (< 0.7 µmol/L) was 26.8%. Geometric mean [95% CI] serum carotenoid concentrations were: α-carotene (0.03 [0.02; 0.03] µmol/L), β-carotene (0.14 [0.12; 0.16] µmol/L), and β-cryptoxanthin (0.17 [0.15; 0.21] µmol/L). Dietary intakes of α- and β-carotene and adjusted serum retinol and α-carotene concentrations were significantly higher during the rainy season. In multiple linear regressions, no associations were found between dietary intakes of preformed VA and pro-VA carotenoids and serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations in children aged 36–59 months in Burkina Faso. There was no effect of season on the associations between preformed VA and pro-VA carotenoids intake and serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations.

Conclusions

This study shows that dietary intakes of preformed VA and pro-VA carotenoids based on 24-h dietary recall method cannot be used as proxy of serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations in this population.

Trial registration

The study was registered retrospectively (22 March 2018) as a clinical trial with the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (Cochrane South Africa; PACTR201803002999356).

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Availability of data and materials

Data used in this analysis are available at: https://osf.io/h3s9b.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the participants in the Sourkoudougou and Banakeledaga villages and the staff of the Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale. Our appreciation goes to the health officials for facilitating the implementation of the study. We would like to thank our data collectors for their support.

Funding

Data collection and sample analysis were supported by a grant from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, Vienna) to the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS) in the context of a Regional African Coordinated Research project on “the use of stable isotope techniques to monitor and assess the vitamin A status of children susceptible to infection”. A grant from IRSS was used for the development of dietary reference data (standard recipes and portion conversion factors). The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the IAEA. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité Nutrition et Maladies Métaboliques, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé/Direction Régionale de l’Ouest, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

    Olivier O. Sombié, Augustin N. Zeba & Jeoffray Diendere

  2. Public Health Nutrition Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Olivier O. Sombié, Stefaan De Henauw & Souheila Abbeddou

  3. Unité Nutrition et Maladies Métaboliques, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

    Jérome W. Somé

  4. Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Adama Kazienga

  5. African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Midrand, South Africa

    Jean F. Bationo

  6. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA

    Christopher Davis, Michael Grahn & Sherry Tanumihardjo

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  1. Olivier O. Sombié
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Contributions

ANZ, OOS and SA were responsible for the design of the study. OOS, JD, JFB, CD and MG conducted the research and ANZ, JWS, ST, SDH and SA supervised data collection. OOS, AK and SA completed the statistical analyses and OOS drafted the manuscript. SA and JWS contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivier O. Sombié.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Before enrolling the child in the study, participants’ primary caregivers’ written consent was obtained. Ethical approval was provided by the Institutional Review Boards of the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé and the authorization granted by the Haut-Bassin Regional Health Direction.

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Not applicable.

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Sombié, O.O., Zeba, A.N., Somé, J.W. et al. Dietary intake of preformed vitamin A and provitamin A carotenoids are not associated with serum retinol and carotenoid concentrations among children 36–59 months of age in rural Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study. Eur J Nutr 62, 3311–3327 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-023-03194-w

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