Self-study
Carrots are known to be one of the best sources of naturally occurring vitamin A. ████████ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ██████ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ ███████ █ ██████████ ██ █████ █████████ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ████ █████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why has the number of people diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency in the United States and Canada increased during the same period that farmers in these countries have reported increasing demands for carrots, which are one of the best sources of naturally occurring vitamin A?
Objective
The correct answer must be the only answer that doesn’t help to explain the vitamin A deficiency phenomenon.
11.
Each of the following, if ████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ███████████ █████████ █████ ███████
a
The population has █████████████ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██████
If all age groups have become more populous, then age groups more likely to be diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency have become more populous. This would provide a possible explanation for the increase in people diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency.
b
The purchase of ██████ ███ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ ██████ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ ████ ███████
People purchasing peeled and chopped carrots means these people are likely purchasing fewer whole carrots. Therefore, these people are likely to get less vitamin A in their diet, increasing the likelihood that they’d be diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency.
c
Certain cuisines that ████ ██████ ███████ ███ ████ ████ █████████ ████████████ █████████ ████████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ████ ██████████ ████████
If currently popular cuisines use more carrots than most previously popular cuisines, more people are likely eating carrots than previously. Therefore, (C) doesn’t explain the increase in people diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency and may even make the phenomenon more confusing.
d
Carrot consumption has █████████ ████ █████ █████ ███████████ ██████ ████ ████ ████████████ ███ ███ ███████ █ ██████████ ██████
If the only people who increased their carrot consumption are those who were already unlikely to experience vitamin A deficiency, the increase in carrot consumption is unlikely to significantly lessen the number of people diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency.
e
Weather conditions have ██████ █ ████████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ ████████
If fewer carrots are available to people, then it’s likely that fewer people are eating carrots, meaning people are likely getting less vitamin A in their diets. This would provide a possible explanation for the increase in people diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency.