High rate of marginal vitamin A deficiency in children aged 0–6 years in Quanzhou, China: a cross-sectional study

Objective To evaluate the vitamin A nutritional status and identify associated factors among children aged 0–6 years in Quanzhou, China, to support the development of targeted intervention strategies. Method This study included 1,183 healthy children (0–6 years) from January 2022 to March 2023. Serum retinol was measured via LC–MS/MS, and anthropometric data were collected. The vitamin A status was compared by gender, age and BMI. Results The median serum retinol concentration was 1.12 μmol/L (95% CI: 0.94–1.29). The overall prevalence of marginal deficiency or deficiency (serum retinol 1.05 μmol/L) was 38.89% (460/1183), with the highest rate observed in infants (65.87%, 166/252), followed by preschoolers (35.74%, 168/470) and toddlers (27.33%, 126/461). Age was a significant predictor of vitamin A sufficiency ( p 0.001): toddlers and preschoolers had 5.06 and 3.33 times higher odds of vitamin A sufficiency compared to infants, respectively. Overweight/obese children showed a higher rate of normal vitamin A status than those with normal or underweight BMI ( p 0.05). No significant differences were found by sex ( p 0.05). Conclusion There is a concerning high prevalence of marginal vitamin A deficiency among young children in Quanzhou, representing a notable public health issue, particularly severe in infants. Interventions should be age-specific and incorporate BMI-related metabolic considerations to effectively address vitamin A insufficiency in this and similar populations.