Simulation of the Contribution of Beta‐carotene Biofortified Rice on Vitamin A Intake among Women and Children in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency continues to be a major public health problem affecting developing countries where people eat mostly staple foods. In Asia, rice is the main staple food providing up to 80% of the total daily energy intake. We used existing datasets from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines where dietary intakes have been quantified at the individual level to 1) determine the rice and vitamin A intake among children 6‐59 months and women; 2) simulate the level of change in prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A based on a range of beta‐carotene (4‐20 ppm) and adoption (10‐70%) levels of the biofortified rice. PC‐Side software was used to perform the simulation analysis. Rice intake (mean ± SD, as raw fresh weight) among women and children were, respectively, 422 ± 83 and 138 ± 46 g/d in Bangladesh, 276 ± 60 and 100 ± 20 g/d in Philippines and 160 ± 125 and 95 ± 45 g/d in Indonesia. Depending on the age and physiological group the inadequate intake of vitamin A was 80‐100% in Bangladesh, 20‐80% in Indonesia, and 50‐90% in Philippines. As an example, introduction of biofortified rice at 10 ppm of beta‐carotene reduced the inadequacy of vitamin A intake by 10‐15% when 10% of the rice consumed was the biofortified rice and up to a 40‐50% decrease when a 70% adoption level was considered. Biofortification of rice with beta‐carotene could significantly improve the vitamin A intake in these countries.