Vitamin a Supplementation Coverage and Correlates of Uptake Among Children 6-59 Months in the South Dayi District, Ghana

Introduction: Vitamin A is essential for immune function, vision, reproduction, and cellular communication. Insufficient amounts of vitamin A decreases children’s ability to resist diseases and increases risks for childhood deaths, hospital stay, and missed school days. Two annual doses of vitamin A supplementation (VAS) for children 6-59 months, with a coverage threshold of 70% as recommended by UNICEF in settings with high deficiency. Methodology: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed nutrition knowledge of vitamin A among caregivers with children 6-59 months and coverage of VAS in the South Dayi District, Volta Region, Ghana, using structured questionnaires. Child health records were reviewed to determine immunization and vitamin A supplementation status of the children. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS (version 20.0) at 95% confidence intervals. Result: A total of 418 caregiver-child pairs participated in this study and health records of all children (49% female, ages 6-59 months) were examined for VAS coverage. Overall, VAS coverage in the 12 months preceding the study was 64.3%. Among caregivers with mean age ± SD (30.4 ± 7.4 years), 65% had inadequate nutrition knowledge of vitamin A food sources and 62% did not know deficiency symptoms or diseases linked to vitamin A. Caregiver knowledge (OR: 1.7) age of child (OR: 1.2) and being a female child (OR: 2.3) were significantly associated with receipt of vitamin A supplementation among children (p Conclusion: Vitamin A supplementation coverage was below the WHO recommended threshold and caregiver knowledge was inadequate in the South Dayi District. Caregiver-centered approaches are needed for improving vitamin A nutrition and supplementation among children in the district.