Prevalence and Correlates of Vitamin A Insufficiency Among 12–18-Month-Old Children Living in Slums of Mumbai, India

We aimed to determine the prevalence of baseline vitamin A insufficiency (VAI; serum retinol (SR) < 1.05μmol/L) and to identify potential correlates of SR and VAI in a population of 12–18-month-old children participating in a randomized controlled trial in urban slums in Mumbai, India. In this cross-sectional analysis, we determined SR concentrations in archived serum samples (N = 118) that were collected from 12–18-month-old children in urban slum communities of Western Mumbai in March–October 2017. We adjusted SR measurements using the BRINDA adjustment method for C-reactive protein.1 Child, maternal and household characteristics were assessed as potential correlates. Linear [β(SE)] and binomial [RR (95% CI)] regressions were used to identify correlates of SR and VAI, respectively. Age and sex were retained in all models. The children in this population had a median (IQR) age of 14.5 (12.4, 16.7) months, and 46.6% were girls. Almost a third (27.1%) were underweight (weight-for-age Z-score