ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2023
Assessment of Skin Carotenoid Measurement as a Means to Detect Vitamin A Deficiency in Children and Pregnant Women of Nepal.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systemic Effects of Prenatal Carotenoid Supplementation in the Mother and her Child: The Lutein and Zeaxanthin in Pregnancy (L-ZIP) Randomized Trial -Report Number 1.The Journal of nutrition · 2023Trial
- Carotenoids in the Context of the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: From Food Matrix and Bioavailability to Biomarkers and Human Health.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Carotenoid Status and Psychological Impact of Presymptomatic Macular Degeneration Genetic Risk Assessment: The MAGENTA Randomized Trial.Ophthalmology science · 2026Article
- Reflection Spectroscopy Skin Carotenoids Correlate with Serum Carotenoids in School-Aged Children.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Skin carotenoids indicate diet, serum carotenoids, and inflammation across obesity and metabolic status in children.Nutrition & metabolism · 2026Article
- Skin Carotenoid Score Level and Race Affect Intradevice Repeatability of Veggie Meter® at a Single Time Point.Journal of nutrition education and behavior · 2026Article
- Non-Invasive Spectroscopic Determination of the Skin and Blood Carotenoids of Term and Preterm Infants in the First Month of Life and the Influence of Free Radical-Mediated Diseases.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVitamin A deficiency (VAD) is an ongoing public health concern among children and pregnant women in Nepal despite robust national efforts to screen and treat this vision- and life-threatening condition.
objectivesThis study aimed to evaluate skin carotenoid scores measured using the Veggie Meter as a rapid, noninvasive screening tool for VAD in Nepali children and pregnant women.
methodsThis comparative cross-sectional study enrolled 164 pregnant women and 168 children (aged 8 to 12 y) from public hospitals in three distinct outlying ecological regions of Nepal (Terai, Hill, and Mountain). The primary outcome assessed whether skin carotenoid status could be a biomarker for VAD. We determined skin carotenoid scores using the Veggie Meter and compared them with serum retinol and total carotenoid concentrations assessed by HPLC. Correlation analysis was used to determine bivariate associations between serum retinol and total carotenoid concentrations, and the Veggie Meter assessed skin carotenoid status. Receiver operating characteristics curves were determined, and a P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
resultsWe found that 8.5% of pregnant women and 13.0% of children in this study had severe VAD (serum retinol < 200 ng/mL). There were significant correlations between skin carotenoid scores with serum retinol and total carotenoid concentrations among pregnant women and children (r = 0.253-0.530, P ≤ 0.001). The Veggie Meter detected severe VAD with 57.1% sensitivity and 82.7% specificity in pregnant women and 61.9% sensitivity and 75.9% specificity in children.
conclusionsAlthough sensitivity and specificity were moderate for detecting VAD with the Veggie Meter, skin carotenoid assessment using this rapid, noninvasive portable device could still be valuable for high-risk VAD screening in Nepal and similar developing countries with limited access to laboratory measurement of serum vitamin A concentrations.
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