Why is provitamin A important for health?
Only some carotenoids have provitamin A activity but beta-carotene is the most common and important among them. Rice is the most important staple food for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. Hence, delivery of beta-carotene with the help of Golden Rice could contribute to reduce chronic health problems caused by vitamin A deficiency (VAD). VAD is widely acknowledged to cause blindness, but more importantly, VAD exacerbates infections, including HIV-AIDS, measles, and other childhood diseases. This leads to an increased mortality rate, especially amongt children. UNICEF has estimated that 124 million children in the world are deficient in vitamin A. The World Bank has estimated that VAD accounted for about one-quarter of the total global burden of disease from malnutrition (Dawe et al 2002). Carotenoids are also associated with nutritional benefits that include the mitigation of various degenerative diseases in older humans. Diets high in carotenoids have been associ
Only some carotenoids have provitamin A activity, but beta-carotene is the most common and important among them. Rice is the most important staple food for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. Hence, delivery of beta-carotene with the help of Golden Rice could contribute to reducing chronic health problems caused by vitamin A deficiency (VAD). VAD is widely acknowledged to cause blindness, but more importantly, VAD exacerbates infections, including HIV-AIDS, measles, and other childhood diseases. This leads to an increased mortality rate, especially amongt children. UNICEF has estimated that 124 million children in the world are chronically deficient in vitamin A. The World Bank has estimated that VAD accounted for about one-quarter of the total global burden of disease from malnutrition (Dawe et al 2002). Carotenoids are also associated with nutritional benefits that include the mitigation of various degenerative diseases in adults. Diets high in carotenoids have be
