• Ke Chen, Xin-ran Chen, Lan Zhang, Hong-yi Luo, Ning Gao, Jin Wang, Gui-Ying Fu, and Meng Mao.
• Center for Child Health Care and Diagnosis and Treatment of Child Growth and Development Disorders, Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
• Nutrition. 2013 Oct 1;29(10):1197-203.

ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to investigate whether vitamin A combined with iron supplementation for preschool children resulted in improved changes in children's infectious morbidity.MethodIn this randomized placebo-controlled and blinded field intervention trial, totally 445 preschoolers, ages 3 to 6 y old, were randomly selected. All children were randomly divided into four groups: vitamin A supplement-only group (group I), iron supplement-only group (group II), vitamin A and iron supplement group (group III), and no vitamin A and ferrous sulfate as placebo-control (group IV) for 6 mo. The morbidity of diarrhea and respiratory infections, were collected during supplementation.ResultsThere was evidence of the lowest incidence rate of respiratory-related illnesses and fewest symptoms of runny nose, cough, and fever for children in group III compared with children in groups I, II and IV (P < 0.05). Moreover, despite the undistinguished incidence rate of vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain, the rate of diarrhea-related illness was significantly lower for children in group III than for those in the other three groups.ConclusionThe beneficial affects on infectious morbidity over 6 mo, highlight the potential of vitamin A plus an iron supplement for preschool-aged children.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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