Jun 15, 2015 07:37 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that sweet potatoes reduce the prevalence and duration of diarrhea in young children, Voice of America reported.

Researchers found a 42 percent reduction in the likelihood that children under the age of five who ate sweet potatoes within the past week would experience diarrhea. The likelihood of having the condition was reduced by more than 52 percent.

Researchers said the vegetables were bred to provide more vitamin A in the diet. In Africa, more than 40 percent of children aged under five are estimated to be at risk of vitamin A deficiency. This increases the risk of diseases such as diarrhea, which is one of the leading causes of mortality in children, taking more than 350,000 lives of children under five in Africa every year.

"Both vitamin A supplements and vitamin A-rich foods like orange sweet potato can provide sufficient vitamin A. From a public health perspective, they are complementary -- neither alone is able to reach every child who needs vitamin A," researcher Alan de Brauw said in a statement. "But vitamin A supplements can be expensive, as much as $2.71 per dose. Alleviating this deficiency worldwide through supplements alone would cost almost $3 billion per year. Using sweet potatoes to provide vitamin A is a fraction of that cost. Given the popularity of OSP -- children especially love its taste -- we think it's a sustainable solution to improving nutrition and child health in many countries, complemented, of course, by supplementation where it is cost-effective."

They found that sweet potatoes had an impact not only on reducing the incidence, but also the duration of diarrhea. For children who had diarrhea, eating these vegetables reduced the duration of the illness by more than 10 percent in children under five, and more than 25 percent in children aged under 3 years old. The children had all eaten sweet potatoes within the past week.

Other studies have shown that vitamin A supplementation reduces diarrhea incidence in children, particularly those who are undernourished or suffering from severe infections.

The findings are detailed in the journal World Development. 

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