Dietary vitamin a intake among Chinese adults: findings from CNTCS2015

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Abstract
Vitamin A plays an important role in human functions, which mainly come from foods. This study aims to examine dietary vitamin A intake and major food sources of Chinese adults. We analyzed the cross-sectional data from 12,246 adult aged 18 to 64 years old in 2015 China Nutritional Transition Cohort Study. Three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with household weighing method were used to assess dietary vitamin A intake. The average dietary vitamin A intakes were 480.9 μg retinol equivalents (RE) or 307.2 μg retinol activity equivalents (RAE). The carotenes and retinol intake of subjects were 2084.7 μg/day and 133.5 μg/day, respectively. Approximately 87% of adults consumed less vitamin A than the Chinese Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), and only 6% of adults consumed more than Chinese Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI). Chinese adults derived vitamin A mainly from plant source foods, which is supplied as carotenes (67.4% RE or 56.4% RAE). Dark- and light- vegetables and fruits were major contributors of carotenes (accounted for 84.2%). The most import food sources of retinol were egg, meats and meat products, poultry, fish and milk, representing 94.7% of retinol intake. The major four contributors of total vitamin A (as both RE and RAE) were dark vegetables, egg, light vegetables, and meats and meat products. In conclusion, dietary vitamin A remains a problem for Chinese adults. Public health actions are needed to increase vitamin A intake in China.
Funding Information
  • National Institutes of Health (R01-HD30880, DK056350, R24 HD050924, and R01-HD38700)
  • Fogarty International Center (D43 TW009077, D43 TW007709)
  • Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (13103110700015005)
  • Carolina Population Center,the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (P2C HD050924, T32 HD007168)

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