Effects of season and illness on the dietary intake of weanlings during longitudinal studies in rural Bangladesh
1985
Brown, Kenneth H. | Black, Robert E. | Robertson, Alastair D. | Becker, Stan
Extract: Longitudinal, quantitative studies of the dietary intake of 70 weanlings between 5 and 30 months of age from 2 Bangladeshi villages have been analyzed to determine the effects of season and illness on dietary intake. During 1014 days of observation, all foods consumed by the children were weighed by a field worker present in the home; 24-hour breast milk intake was estimated from 12-hour test weighings. Inter-individual differences explained 29% to 50% of the variance in consumption of selected nutrients and foods during 632 studies conducted when children were free from diarrhea and fever. Multiple linear regressions controlling for inter-individual differences indicated that 60-day seasonal periods explained a significant proportion of the variation in intake. Average energy consumption (kcal/kg/d) was approximately 1/3 greater during the post-harvest periods than during the pre-harvest monsoon period. Breast milk intake varied similarly even after controlling for age-related decreases. Consumption of rice and wheat, the major non-breast milk sources of energy and protein, had distinct seasonal patterns, thus limiting the overall seasonal variability in cereal intake. Older children, particularly boys, benefited more from the post-harvest relative abundance of food. The intake of most nutrients was significantly depressed by approximately 10% during febrile illnesses. Minor decreases in intake with other illnesses were not statistically significant. (author)
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