Skip to main content
PMC home page
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2004 Nov 1;95(6):465–469. doi: 10.1007/BF03403995

Age Differences in Vitamin A Intake Among Canadian Inuit

Grace M Egeland 116,✉, Peter Berti 216, Rula Soueida 116, Laura T Arbour 416, Olivier Receveur 316, Harriet V Kuhnlein 116
PMCID: PMC6976093  PMID: 15622799

Abstract

Background

Inuit traditional food provides ample amounts of preformed vitamin A. However, the dietary transition away from traditional food raises concerns regarding dietary adequacy. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient with inadequate and excessive exposures having adverse effects.

Objective

To evaluate total dietary vitamin A intake for Canadian Inuit from market food and traditional food sources and to evaluate retinol concentrations in liver and blubber.

Methods

Dietary surveys were conducted in 18 communities representing 5 Inuit regions, and traditional food items were evaluated for nutrient content.

Results

Among those 15–40 years of age, 68% of men and 60% of women had a dietary vitamin A intake below the estimated average requirement (EAR) for retinol activity equivalents (RAE)/day. Among those over 40 years of age, only 11% of men and 15% of women had a dietary vitamin A intake below the EAR. Young Inuit men had a relative risk of 6.2 (95% CI= 4.5–8.4), and young Inuit women had a relative risk of 4.0 (95% CI= 3.1–5.0) for dietary inadequacy compared to the older Inuit men and women, respectively. The median retinol content of liver of ringed seal, caribou, and fish were comparable to levels observed in market food liver. Liver was less frequently consumed by those 15–40 years of age than among older Inuit.

Discussion

Sub-optimal vitamin A intake is the predominant nutritional concern rather than excessive exposures. Public health education campaigns are needed to improve vitamin A intake among the younger generations of Inuit men and women.

References

  • 1.Semba RD. The role of vitamin A and related retinoids in immune function. Nutr Rev. 1998;56:38–48. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1998.tb01643.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Azais-Braesco V, Pascal G. Vitamin A in pregnancy: Requirements and safety limits. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71:1325–33. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/71.5.1325s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Zile MH. Vitamin A and embryonic development: An overview. J Nutr. 1998;128:455–58. doi: 10.1093/jn/128.2.455S. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Ross SA, McCaffery PJ, Drager UC, Luca LM. Retinoids in embryonal development. Physiol Rev. 2000;80(3):1021–54. doi: 10.1152/physrev.2000.80.3.1021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Sommer A. Vitamin A: Its effect on childhood sight and life. Nutr Rev. 1994;52(2):60–66. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1994.tb01388.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Institute of Medicine US. Dietary Reference Intakes. Washington: National Academy Press; 2000. Vitamin A; pp. 82–161. [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Kuhnlein HV, Receveur O, Chan HM. Traditional food systems research with Canadian indigenous peoples. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2001;60:112–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Kuhnlein HV. Arctic Med Res. 1991. Nutrition of the Inuit: A brief overview; pp. 728–30. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Lawn J, Langner N, Brule D, Thompson N, Lawn P, Hill F. Food consumption patterns of Inuit women. Int J Circumpolar Health. 1998;57(Suppl1):198–204. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Godel JC, Basu TK, Pabst HF, Hodges RS, Hodges PE, Ng ML. Perinatal vitamin A (retinol) status of northern Canadian mothers and their infants. Biol Neonate. 1996;65:133–39. doi: 10.1159/000244288. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Jenkins AL, Gyorkos TW, Culman KN, Ward BJ, Pekeles GS, Mills EL. An overview of factors influencing the health of Canadian Inuit infants. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2003;62(1):17–39. doi: 10.3402/ijch.v62i1.17526. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Kuhnlein HV, Receveur O, Chan HM, Loring E. Assessment of Inuit Dietary Benefit/Risk in Inuit Communities. 2000. [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Kuhnlein HV, Barthet V, Leggee D, Farren A. Vitamins A, E and D in traditional arctic food (submitted).
  • 14.Kuhnlein HV, Receveur O, Soueida R, Egeland GM. Arctic indigenous peoples experience: The nutrition transition with changing dietary patterns and obesity. J Nutr. 2004;124:1447–53. doi: 10.1093/jn/134.6.1447. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15.Receveur O, Boulay M, Kuhnlein HV. Decreasing traditional food use affects diet quality for adult Dene/Métis in 16 communities of the Canadian Northwest Territories. J Nutr. 1997;127:2179–86. doi: 10.1093/jn/127.11.2179. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16.Institute Of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes. Washington: National Academy Press; 2000. Applications in dietary assessment. [Google Scholar]
  • 17.Barr SI, Murphy SP, Poos MI. Interpreting and using the Dietary Reference Intakes in dietary assessment of individuals and groups. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102(6):780–88. doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(02)90177-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18.Murphy SP. Changes in dietary guidance: Implications for food and nutrient databases. J Food Composition Analysis. 2001;14:269–78. doi: 10.1006/jfca.2001.0985. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Holden JM, Eldridge AL, Beecher GR, Buzzard IM, Bhagwat S, Davis CS, et al. Carotenoid content of U.S. foods: An update of the database. J Food Composition Analysis. 1999;12:169–96. doi: 10.1006/jfca.1999.0827. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Murphy SP, Gross KR. The UCB Mini-list Diet Analysis System. MS_DOS Version Users Guide. 1987. [Google Scholar]
  • 21.Dubuc MB, Lahaie LC. Nutritive Value of Foods. Société Brault-Lahaie. 1994. [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Morrison N, Kuhnlein HV. Retinol content of wild foods consumed by the Sahtu (Hareskin) Dene/Metis. J Food Composition Analysis. 1993;6:10–23. doi: 10.1006/jfca.1993.1003. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 23.Iowa State University Statistical Laboratory. Software for Intake Distribution Estimation (SIDE). A User’s Guide to SIDE. 1996. [Google Scholar]
  • 24.U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2002. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page, https://doi.org/www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp.
  • 25.Helms P. Kostvurderingstabeller. Kopenhagen: Akademisk Forlag; 1980. [Google Scholar]
  • 26.Rohde CM, Manatt M, Clagett-Dame M, DeLuca HF. Vitamin A antagonizes the action of vitamin D in rats. J Nutr. 1999;129:2246–50. doi: 10.1093/jn/129.12.2246. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27.Freudenheim JL, Johnson NE, Smith EL. Relationship between usual nutrient intake and bone-mineral content of women 35–65 years of age: Longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 1986;44:863–76. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/44.6.863. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28.Houtkooper LB, Ritenbaugh C, Aicken M, Lohman TG, Going SB, Weber JL, et al. Nutrients, body composition and exercise are related to change in bone mineral density in premenopausal women. J Nutr. 1995;125:1229–37. doi: 10.1093/jn/125.5.1229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29.Melhus H, Michaelsson K, Kindmark A, Bergstrom R, Holmberg L, Mallmin H, et al. Excessive dietary intake of vitamin A is associated with reduced bone mineral density and increased risk for hip fractures. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129:770–78. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-129-10-199811150-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30.CDC. Prevalence and characteristics of alcohol consumption and fetal alcohol syndrome awareness — Alaska, 1991 and 1993. MMWR. 1994;43(1):3–6. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31.Santé Quebec. A health profile of the Inuit: report of the Santé Québec Health Survey among the Inuit of Nunavik. 1992. Use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs; p. 121. [Google Scholar]
  • 32.Leo MA, Lieber CS. Hepatic vitamin A depletion in alcoholic liver injury. N Engl J Med. 1982;307:597–601. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198209023071006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33.Leo MA, Lieber CS. Alcohol, vitamin A, and beta-carotene: Adverse interactions, including hepatotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69:1071–85. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/69.6.1071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34.Sato M, Lieber CS. Hepatic vitamin A depletion after chronic ethanol consumption in baboons andrats. J Nutr. 1981;111:2015–23. doi: 10.1093/jn/111.11.2015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35.Whitby KE, Collins TFX, Welsh JJ, Black TN, Flynn T, Shackelford M, et al. Developmental effects of combined exposure to ethanol and vitamin A. Food Chem Toxicol. 1994;32:305–20. doi: 10.1016/0278-6915(94)90069-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 36.Duester G. A hypothetical mechanism for fetal alcohol syndrome involving ethanol inhibition of retinoic acid synthesis at the alcohol dehydrogenase step. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1991;15(3):568–72. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1991.tb00562.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37.Pullarkat RK, Azar B. Retinoic acid, embryonic development, and alcohol-induced birth defects. Embryonic Development. 1992;16(4):317–23. [Google Scholar]
  • 38.Zachman RD, Grummer MA. The interaction of ethanol and vitamin A as a potential mechanism for the pathogenesis of fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1998;22(7):1544–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1998.tb03948.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 39.Halsted CH, Villanueva JA, Devlin AM, Chandler CJ. Metabolic interactions of alcohol and folate. J Nutr. 2002;132:2367–72. doi: 10.1093/jn/132.8.2367S. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 40.Arbour L, Gilpin C, Millor-Roy V, Pekeles G, Egeland GM, Hodgins S, Eydoux P. Congenital heart defects and other malformations in the Inuk of Baffin Island and Arctic Quebec between 1989 and 1994 (In press).
  • 41.Egeland GM, Perham-Hester KA, Hook EB. Use of capture-recapture analyses in fetal alcohol syndrome surveillance in Alaska. Am J Epidemiol. 1995;141:335–41. doi: 10.1093/aje/141.4.335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 42.Egeland GM, Perham-Hester KA, Gessner BD, Ingle D, Berner JE, Middaugh JP. Fetal alcohol syndrome in Alaska, 1977 through 1992: An administrative prevalence derived from multiple data sources. Am J Public Health. 1998;88:781–86. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.88.5.781. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 43.Willows ND, Dewailly E, Gray-Donald K. Anemia and iron status in Inuit infants from northern Quebec. Can J Public Health. 2000;91:407–10. doi: 10.1007/BF03404818. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 44.Hodgins S, Dewailly E, Chatwood S, Bruneau S, Bernier F. Iron-deficiency anemia in Nunavit pregnancy and infancy. Int J Circumpolar Health. 1998;57(Suppl1):135–40. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 45.Suharno D, West CE, Muhilal Karvadi D, Hautvast JGAJ. Supplementation with vitamin A and iron for nutritional anaemia in pregnant women in West Java, Indonesia. Lancet. 1993;342:1325–28. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)92246-P. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 46.Oakley GP, Erickson JD. Vitamin A and birth defects: Continuing caution is needed. N Engl J. 1995;333(21):1414–15. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199511233332109. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES