Nutrition survey of five rural Puerto Rican communities
Fernández, N.A.; Burgos, J.C.; Asenjo, C.F.; Rosa, I.R.
Boletin de la Asociacion Medica de Puerto Rico 61(2): 42-52
1969
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-4849 PMID: 5253972 Document Number: 700079
Between 1963 and 1965, five comprehensive nutrition surveys were carried out in isolated rural communities in Puerto Rico. The results of these surveys have all been published in full in various scientific journals and this report, in English, gathers together the information obtained, giving, the authors feel, a representative picture of the nutritional state of the country's rural population. 2137 subjects, representing 94% of the total population of the areas studied, were clinically examined and biological tests were carried out on most of those examined. The exact food intake of 479 persons was weighed for a 24-hour period. Stools were examined for ova and parasites. Comprehensive tables are given showing all the results, including food consumption for males and females in the different age-groups. The dietary survey showed a low energy intake for all except adult males. Measurements of height and weight and skinfold thickness when compared with standards for the United States and Puerto Rico confirmed an inadequate intake of food, but the results for adults were contradictory, as the women were up to standard and the men below. A possible explanation is given for the women by the fact that they rely on left-overs after they have served their families, and they may have not liked to eat these in front of the dietitian. The energy needs of adult men may have been underestimated and their requirements not, in fact, fully met. The diet consisted mainly of starchy vegetables, enriched rice, beans, codfish and coffee. This was calculated to be deficient in calcium, vitamin A, riboflavin and iron. Apart from retardation of growth there were few clinical signs of deficiency, but biochemical tests were considered to confirm the inadequacy of vitamin A and iron intake. The excretion rates of thiamin and niacin were lower than expected as the rice was enriched, but the habit of repeatedly washing the rice may have lowered the actual intake of these water-soluble vitamins. From Trop. Dis. Bull.