The Effect of Vitamin B12 Administration on Japanese Children.

Since the isolation of crystalline vitamin B12 (B12) from liver many reports have appeared during the past several years on the supplemental effect of the vitamin on the growth of children in U.S.A. and in some other countries (1). The duration of the studies was from 4 weeks to 2 years, and the number of children subjected to individual study was from 9 to 418. The status of the subjects in each investigation was not the same, and positive results were obtained in some of the studies but not in all of them. The studies have been carried out in different parts of the world , but never in Japan. Observations on the effect of supplementing B12 to the diet of a large number of Japanese children aged 3 to 14 years were conducted by the authors representing the Vitamin B Research Committee of Japan from 1959 to 1961 with the aid of Merck, Sharpe and Dohme Co., Inc. The children were chosen from four different areas: Tokyo and Osaka as large cities, Tokushima as a mountain area , and Hiro saki as a rural area. The children in both the large cities were residing either in orphanages or nurseries. The children in Tokushima and Hirosaki were attending elementary schools from their individual homes.