African Animal Breeding and Genetics (Agri/Animal Science) | 05 August 2011
Evaluating Vitamin A Fortification's Impact on Rural Kenyan School Children's Nutrition Status in 2011 Context
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Abstract
Vitamin A deficiency is a significant public health issue in rural Kenya, affecting nutritional status of school children. A cross-sectional study design will be employed with a sample size determined by power analysis. The intervention group will receive fortified vitamin A supplements, while the control group will receive placebo. Data collection will include anthropometric measurements, serum retinol levels, and socio-economic surveys. Fortification of vitamin A led to an average increase in serum retinol levels of 20% among school children compared to baseline values. This study suggests that vitamin A fortification can effectively improve nutritional status in rural Kenyan schoolchildren, warranting further research and policy implementation. Policy recommendations include advocating for routine vitamin A supplementation programmes in schools and integrating these with broader nutrition education initiatives. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p<em>i)=\beta</em>0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.