Nutritional status in Peru
Gross, U.; Gross, R.; Feldheim, W.
International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research. Internationale Zeitschrift für Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal International de Vitaminologie et de Nutrition 43(3): 387-396
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-9831 PMID: 4749922 Document Number: 67134
Amounts of individual foods produced in Peru or imported and net amounts of them available for human consumption in 1968 are shown from the official statistics of Lima. Of wheat, almost unknown until recent years, 84% was imported and of beef about 25%. Only about 7 kg fish was eaten per person yearly, because most fish was converted into meal or oil. Two-thirds of butter and nearly all vegetable oil were imported. Most people in the interior were self-supporting, but also sold some of their products at the markets. Calculated average daily intakes of nutrients, based on the statistics, were energy 2200 kcal; total and animal protein 55 and 19 g, lipid 45 and carbohydrate 397 g; Ca 430, Fe 12.7, retinol 0.63, thiamin 1.0, riboflavin 1.2, niacin 16.7 and ascorbic acid 80 mg. From general observations and studies made by Peruvians it was concluded that the variety of foods used was greatest on the coast and least in the mountain and forest regions, especially in rural communities, which nearly always had least vitamins. The incidence of endemic goitre, greatest in the forest region, and the many undernourished children under 5 years old, particularly in the forest and rural areas, were stressed. Rural parts of the mountain area appeared to be most deficient in total protein, but had better supplies of thiamin than urban communities because of the use of whole grain products and legumes. Means of improving the diet, including the supply of protein for the people and their livestock, were discussed. A protein-rich fresh-water alga and lupins with the bitter component removed were often sold at Indian markets in the mountains; lupins had been known in Inca times, when a wide selection of foods had apparently been used.