Writers 
A lot of parents assume their child is eating "well" simply because they're not skinny or visibly sick. But vitamin A deficiency doesn't always show up the way people expect. Sometimes it's just a child who seems to catch every cold going around, or who struggles to see properly once the sun goes down.
I remember reading through case studies of this during my food science coursework, and what stood out was how ordinary the early signs are. Nobody thinks "vitamin A" when a child has dry skin or takes forever to recover from a minor infection. But that's often exactly what's happening.
Vitamin A does more than protect the eyes. It's a big part of how the immune system fights off things like measles and diarrhea, both of which are still common causes of child illness in Nigeria.
How to Tell If It's Low
You won't always get an obvious sign, but a few things tend to show up together:
Poor vision at night or in dim light is usually the first thing people notice. Skin that stays dry no matter how much cream you apply. Infections that seem to linger longer than they should. And in kids especially, growth that's a bit behind where it should be for their age.
None of these alone means much. But together, over time, they paint a picture.
Foods Most Nigerian Kitchens Already Have
The good news is you don't need anything exotic. Red palm oil, the unrefined kind, is honestly one of the richest natural sources of vitamin A you'll find anywhere, and it's already in half the soups we cook. Banga, efo riro, whatever you're making, using palm oil instead of skipping it for a "lighter" refined oil actually does something nutritionally.
Carrots are cheap and easy. Ugu, beyond being known for iron, is loaded with beta carotene too, which the body turns into vitamin A on its own. Pawpaw is maybe the easiest win of all, since most kids will eat it without a fight, unlike vegetables.
And liver, if your family eats it, gives the body vitamin A in a form it doesn't even have to convert. It just uses it directly.
The Part People Get Wrong
Here's something most people don't realize: vitamin A needs fat to be absorbed. So if someone's eating their ugu completely dry, with barely any oil, or having pawpaw as their only food for the day, the body isn't actually taking in as much of that vitamin A as it should.
It doesn't take much to fix. A normal amount of oil in the vegetables, or pairing pawpaw with a small handful of groundnuts, is enough to make a real difference.
Who Really Needs to Pay Attention
Pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children under five carry most of the risk here. If you fall into one of those groups, or you're feeding someone who does, it's worth being a bit more intentional about this alongside whatever vitamin A supplementation your antenatal or child health clinic already recommends.
Nothing here requires a special diet or extra money most weeks. It's mostly about using what's already in the kitchen a little more deliberately.