Vitamin A Nutritional Status Determined by Assessing Dietary Intake and Serum Retinol Level among Elderly Adults Living in Asan

아산시 거주 노인들의 비타민 A 섭취 실태 및 레티놀 영양상태

Insufficient dietary intake of vitamin A is one of the major nutritional problems for elderly adults in some parts of Korea. The objective of this study was to determine the vitamin A nutritional status of elderly adults in Asan, Korea by assessing the dietary intake and serum retinol concentration. Five hundred twenty four subjects (218 male and 306 female) over 65 years were recruited from city of Asan. Each subject was interviewed to assess the intake of vitamin A using a 24hr recall method and data were analysed from computer-aided nutrient analysis program. Blood samples after 12hr fasting were collected for serum retinol concentration and reverse phased HPLC with UV detector used. The results showed that subjects did not consume the sufficient amount of energy (82-85% of Korean RDA for male and 77-79% RDA for female) and vitamin A (59% RDA for male and 50% RDA for female). Range for retinol intake was 0 to $4342\;{\mu}g$ a day while that of beta-carotene was 65 to $31595\;{\mu}g$. Serum retinol concentrations were within a normal range for both male ($80\;{\mu}g/dl$) and female ($67\;{\mu}g/dl$) subjects. Many subjects (n=342) consumed less than 50% RDA of vitamin A. However, if retinol intake was high (> $37\;{\mu}g$), even with less than 50% RDA of vitamin A intake, serum retinol concentration was high ($75\;{\mu}g/dl$). Subjects showed normal serum retinol status even with low vitamin A intake. The results suggested that optimal intake ratio of dietary retinol and carotenoid is important to maintain an appropriate serum retinol concentration.