[Nutritional status and influencing factors of breast milk vitamin A among lactating women in three regions of Chin].

objectiveTo evaluate the nutritional status of vitamin A (VitA) in breast milk and its influencing factors among lactating women in the Weihai, Yueyang, and Baotou of China.

methodsFrom May to July 2014, 403 lactating mothers at (42±7) d postpartum were recruited from three Chinese cities, Weihai in Shandong Province, Yueyang in Hunan Province, and Baotou in Inner Mongolia. Basic information of lactating women and newborns and fish intake information of the lactating women in the last month were collected. The concentration of retinol in breast milk was collected and measured using high-performance liquid chromatography to determine the levels of VitA. According to the breast milk retinol concentration, the nutritional status of breast milk VitA among the lactating women was divi-ded into deficiency (< 1.05 μmol/L) and sufficient (≥1.05 μmol/L). The multivariate quantile regression was used to calculate the adjusted breast milk retinol concentrations. The Kruskal-Wallis

resultsThe

conclusionThe prevalence of breast milk VitA deficiency among the Chinese lactating women was 41.9%, suggesting that breast milk VitA deficiency in lactating women and inadequate VitA intake for infants were common in China. The women in Baotou, low educational status and low fish intake increased the risk of breast milk VitA deficiency, suggesting that attention should be paid to the nutritional status of lactating women in underdeveloped regions such as inland region, and education for health should be enhanced and food containing VitA such as fish intake should be increased.