Nutrition Bytes

Vitamin A deficiency and anemia due to nutritional status are major problems worldwide, and are especially significant in developing countries, with children and pregnant women most often affected. Research during the 1920s suggested an interaction between vitamin A and iron, and interest in this interaction has continued in recent decades. A relationship between vitamin A and iron could have relevance to the treatment of nutritional anemia, and numerous studies have suggested that supplemental vitamin A in addition to iron is superior to iron alone in treating nutritional anemia. In this paper, human and animal studies of vitamin A in relation to iron and anemia are presented, and hypotheses regarding this relationship are given.