A study of nutritional ecology in a Pakistani village
1980
Hussain, M.A. | Abdullah, M.R. Mohammad
An entire village in Pakistan provided information through census, questionnaires and clinical assessment of all aspects of life which might contribute to nutritional status. Some of the factors were agricultural practices, dietary habits, cause of death, physiology, literacy and treatment of sickness. The resultant profile looked like this: an agricultural village with support of skilled and unskilled labor, average education of less than 5 years, early marriage patterns, high infant mortality, and prevalent malnutrition. Dietary intake was of vegetable origin with consistent use of tea. Food taboos during pregnancy were common. Breast feeding was practiced universally on demand and most children were weaned to the family diet by age 3. Feeding practices during illness tended to aggravate the already poor nutritional status. Food preferences were for milk and meat (very expensive) and against vegetables and pulses (very cheap). Preferential diet treatment was given the wage earner. Thirty percent of the 597 people examined showed some form of parasitic infection. It becomes clear that any intervention attempt must address education, agriculture, sanitation and health care.
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