Abstract
Vitamin A status was assessed by clinical signs and conjunctival impression cytology (CIC-A) in 455 children 36–83 months of age in 16 at randomly selected villages in Chuuk State. Fourteen percent of the children had a history of night blindness and 6% had Bitot's spots on examination. Nearly half of the children (46%) had abnormal CIC-A status reflecting subclinical vitamin A deficiency. Children abnormal by CIC-A had lower hemoglobin levels (−0.4 μg/dl), were more stunted in their linear growth, and were twice as likely to have had a recent respiratory infection than children with normal CIC-A. Vitamin A deficiency appears to be a serious public health problem in Micronesia.
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