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serum vitamin A; iii) ophthalmological evaluation for clinical signs of vitamin A
deficiency; iv) Rose Bengal Stain test for early conjunctival xemsis and v) conjunct~val
impression cytology for preclinical vitamin A deficiency. S~nce the techniques employed
were not uniform, the results are not strictly comparable. In some studies, the
prevalence of vitamin A deficiency was significantly high in school age children making
it an important health problem (Desai et a1.,1989; Sampathkumar and Abe1,1993.
Sharma et a1.,1993). Studies have shown that the dietary intake of vitamin A by
children was less than the recommended dietary allowance (Aspatwar and Bapat,l995
and 1996).The existing scheme for control of blindness due to vitamin A def~ciency
covers children up to 6 years of age only and does not include school age ch~ldren who
might be suffering from vitamin A def~ciency (Park, 1997).
Id) Riboflavin deficiency
Recent surveys conducted by the National Nutritional Monitoring Bureau suggest that
riboflavin is one of the most limiting nutnents in Indian diets (Prasad et a1.,1987). In a
study from Hyderabad, it was observed that 82.0% had biochemical riboflavin
defic~ency and only 15 5% of those with deficiency presented with clinical signs of lt
(Prasad et a1.,1987). In a rural area near Hyderabad, it was found that the prevalence
of riboflav~n defic~ency was 41.3% (Bamji et a/., 1979). The prevalence varies from
8 0% to 27.0% in different parts of the country (Rao ef a1.,1984; Gupta,1989).
[el Periodontal disease
The prevalence and severity of periodontal diseases vary according to geographical,
social, local, oral and systemic factors and oral habits. A prevalence rate of over 40.0%
has been recorded in many countries (WH0,1978).
In different parts of Ind~a, the