Reducing subclinical vitamin A deficiency through women's adoption of appropriate technologies in Tanzania

Many at-risk populations in developing countries are vitamin A deficient. Improvement in the vitamin A status of preschool children would increase their chances of survival and improve their health. Progress has been made in combating severe forms of vitamin A deficiency, yet the extent of subclinical vitamin A deficiency is worrisome. Strategies such as supplementation, food fortification, and dietary diversification have had some impact, but efforts must be made to enhance their effectiveness. One promising strategy is to increase women's access to food-processing technologies that extend the availability of vitamin A and provitamin vitamin A-rich foods, reduce nutrient losses due to traditional processing methods, and improve the hygienic and nutritional quality of the dried food products. Because women are key to household nutrition, improving their access to such technologies would increase women's productivity and enhance the effectiveness of their nutrition-promoting behaviors. The Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) within the Ministry of Health, and working with the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock Development and Community Development, Children and Women's Affairs, implemented an intervention research study in rural Tanzania to promote women's adoption of improved solar-drying technologies for preserving vegetables and fruits and to improve children's dietary intake of provitamin A-containing foods. Children whose mothers adopted the improved solar dryers consumed significantly more foods rich in vitamin A and provitamin A (p < .001). The β-carotene content of green leafy vegetables dried in the improved enclosed dryers was better than that of vegetables dried using traditional methods. These results suggest opportunities to reduce seasonal subclinical deficiencies among children in this semiarid rural area of Tanzania.