Biofortified orange maize is as efficacious as a vitamin A supplement in Zambian children even in the presence of high liver reserves of vitamin A: a community-based, randomized placebo-controlled trial123456

Study answer

What this study found

Biofortified orange maize was efficacious as a vitamin A source and increased total body vitamin A reserves to a degree comparable with the vitamin A supplement and greater than placebo. Median changes in total body vitamin A reserves were 13 (219, 44) mmol for placebo, 84 (21, 146) mmol for orange maize, and 98 (24, 171) mmol for vitamin A; orange maize did not differ from vitamin A (P = 0.34), and both were higher than placebo (P = 0.0034). Serum retinol showed no treatment effect (P = 0.16) and did not change, indicating that serum retinol was not sensitive to the intervention effect.…

Study & population

Community-based randomized placebo-controlled trial in rural Zambian preschool children.

Intervention

Children received biofortified orange maize for 90 days, with a daily placebo oil (214 mL) in the orange arm.

Key limitation

The active-arm sample sizes were modest and the intervention lasted only 90 days.

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Original abstract