These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Nutritional analysis of a programme in eastern Nicaragua.
    Author: Horner MR.
    Journal: Food Nutr (Roma); 1982; 8(2):19-25. PubMed ID: 7160496.
    Abstract:
    This discussion describes the impact of a World Food Program (WFP) project on the food consumption of preschool Miskito Indian children in eastern Nicaragua. The data were collected during January, March, and May 1977 by the recall method for the random sample of 252 children ranging in age from 6 months-5 years. 24-hour recalls were obtained from mothers or other persons responsible for childfeeding. Homes were visited once per day in the late afternoon. Food intakes for the 24 hours immediately preceding the interview were recorded using food models and marked dishes as aids. The amount of breastmilk consumed was not estimated. In March, homes of selected children were visited 3 days in succession with 24-hour food intakes recorded for each day. To evaluate the contribution of different food sources to the children's diets, the following classification was used: home--food acquired through the family's own agriculture, hunting, fishing, or gathering, or received as a gift; market--food purchased in village stores or a food combination made with purchased ingredients; mixed--food purchased from another family or a food combination made with ingredients from a mixture of home, market, and National Development Institute (INFONAC) sources; and INFONAC--food items from the INFONAC project or a food combination made from a majority of INFONAC ingredients, which consisted of oatmeal, whole wheat, and dried skim milk. Marked changes occurred in food sources over the 5-month period. Data for January and March were relatively similar but, in May, there was a significant increase in the contribution of INFONAC foods to the consumption of almost all nutrients. This shift was due to a decrease in the availabiltiy of "home" foods as well as to increased consumption of INFONAC foods. The percentage contributions of the 4 different food sources to the diets of Miskito Indian children cannot indicate the actual nutrient adequacy of the food consumed. Total food consumption dropped significantly from January to March due to crop damage from flooding in July of the previous year. In March, consumption of all nutrients, except vitamin C, was at a level which met only 26-77% of the recommended intakes for breastfed children. As a result of this crisis, INFONAC increased its shipments to all Miskito Indian villages in the affected area. By May, the quantity of food consumed had improved such that the lowest adequacy of nutrient intakes, those of calcium and riboflavin, had increased to 51% of the recommended level. The data do suggest that the preschool children were among the beneficiaries and that the substitution effect was avoided. INFONAC milk did not replace breastmilk; it replaced mixtures of sugar, water, and flour or cornstarch. The Miskito Indians modified their food habits in order to incorporate the nonindigenous WFP foods into their diets.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]