Frequency of consumption of foods and beverages by Inuvialuit adults in Northwest Territories,Arctic Canada

Limited data exist regarding nutrient intakes and overall dietary quality in Canadian Arctic populations. This cross-sectional study determined the frequency of consumption of traditional meats (e.g. caribou, polar bear, seal, char and whale) and non-traditional store-bought foods including non-traditional meats (e.g. beef, pork and chicken), grains, dairy, fruits, vegetables and non-nutrient dense foods (NNDFs) (e.g. butter, chocolate, chips, candy and pop) by Inuvialuit adults (175 women, mean age 44 ± 14 years; 55 men, mean age 41 ± 13 years) in three remote communities in the Northwest Territories. Using a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire, frequency of consumption over a 30-day period was determined for 141 commonly reported foods. Mean consumption of traditional meats (1.6 times/day), fruits (1 time/day) and vegetables (0.6 times/day) was less frequent than that of NNDFs (5.0 times/day). Nutritional intervention strategies are needed to promote more frequent consumption of nutrient-rich foods and less frequent consumption of NNDFs in these Arctic communities.     

The nutritive adequacy of some Nigerian peasant diets

The nutritive values of six traditional diets of the people of South‐Eastern Nigeria have been evaluated. A bioassay procedure was used; it involved the measurement of Biological Value, True Digestibility of the dietary nitrogen, Net Protein Utilization (operative) and Net Dietary Protein Calories Percent (NDpCals%). The procedures were applied to diets cooked as for human consumption, then dried and fed unmodified to male weaning albino rats. The results showed that in all cases the digestibility of the dietary nitrogen was high but the nutritive value was significantly low. These results are discussed and compared with the FAO recommended practical allowances for NDpCals% for various physiological ages and states.     

Non‐nutritional uses of food in traditional Appalachian culture

Food has both nutritional and non‐nutritional functions and this paper reports some non‐nutritional uses of food in traditional Appalachian culture. The emphasis is upon occult and non‐occult uses of food in folk medicine. Specific examples of rituals are presented as collected in Appalachia. It is suggested that these traditions have been maintained due to the strength of the reference groups.     

Nutritional status of mauritanian children during a drought emergency

Nutritional surveys were conducted in three regions of Mauritania between September and November, 1983, to assess the impact of a severe drought and to determine priorities for relief assistance. Survey sites and children were chosen at random using established Centers for Disease Control survey methodology. A total of 1,498 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years were weighed, measured and examined for xerophthalmia and scurvy. Information on age, sex, diarrhea, measles immunization, diet and food aid was collected for each child. Levels of acute malnutrition (< 80 % of median weight‐for‐height) ranged from 8.2 to 17.2% in the 3 regions, and both xerophthalmia and scurvy were seen. The children between 1 to 3 years of age had the highest levels of malnutrition. Food aid deliveries were irregular and inadequate in the two regions with the highest rates of malnutrition. Implications for targeting and choice of relief efforts are discussed.     

Dangers of reducing the range of food choice in developing countries

This article is based on a lecture, “Decreasing variety of plant foods used in developing countries” given at the Joint Congress of the Confoederatio Internationalis ad Qualitates Plantarum Edulium Perquirendas (CIQ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Qualitatsforschung (Pflanzliche Nahrungsmittel) E. V. (DGQ) on The Role of Plant Foods in Preventive Medicine, 12–14th September, 1978 at Reading University. The lecture has been published in Qualitas Plantarum, 1979, Vol. 29, Nos. 1–2. Dr. W. Junk b.v. publishers. The Hague, Netherlands.     

Fisheries and undernutrition

People eat fish directly, and they also consume it indirectly in the form of feed for livestock such as pigs and poultry. Despite widespread malnutrition in developing countries, the data indicate that on a per capita basis people in developed countries use about four times as much fish as people in less developed countries. Nevertheless, people in developing countries tend to be far more dependant on fish because it accounts for a far higher proportion of their animal protein intake.

The high levels of fish consumption in developed countries is partly due to their high levels of imports of fish products from developing countries. The export of large quantities of fish (and other food) from poor countries may help to account for the malnutrition in poor countries.

With adaptations in the production, processing, and distribution phases of operations, fisheries could be managed so as to help alleviate malnutrition. The potential was recognized by the World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development held in Rome in the summer of 1984 when it approved a new “Action Programme on the Promotion of the Role of Fisheries in Alleviating Malnutrition.”     

Comparative study of diets and disease prevalence in Greek Chians part II Chian immigrants to Athens and to the United States

The study examined differences in Greek and Greek‐American diets and disease patterns related to migration within the Mediterranean and from the Mediterranean to the United States. Data reported here discuss changes in food patterns and health‐related characteristics of two populations, both originating from the Greek island of Chios, residing either in Athens, Greece, or urban centers in the United States. Food consumption and medical history questionnaires were mailed to 2652 Chians residing in Athens, New York, and the San Francisco Bay region of California. A total of 381 usable responses were obtained; 79% of both the Chian Greek and the Chian Greek American sample were first generation emigrants. Food consumption data were analyzed as monthly frequencies of 49 food items and categories using factor analysis and discriminate analysis. Associations between location of residence and disease prevalence were examined using maximum‐likelihood logit analysis; results were controlled for age, Body Mass Index, physical activity, smoking habit, and socio‐economic status. After controlling for these potential confounders, as well as for presence of the conditions of elevated serum cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes, Chian American men were identified at higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than their Athenian counterparts (p < 0.06). This difference in risk for CVD may be related to more frequent use of oils and fats other than olive oil, and less frequent use of olive oil. Among women, diabetes exhibited a positive association with Chian women residing in Athens (p < 0.09), which may be explained by a less frequent use of foods rich in complex carbohydrates by Athenian women than by their American counterparts.     

Potato processing in the central highlands of Peru

The processing of food products is an important economic activity of rural households in the Andean Highlands of Perú. Potatoes are processed into several dehydrated products the most common of which are chuño and papa seca. Chuño is a freezedried product made principally from bitter types of potatoes (Solarium juzepczukii and S. curtilobum) while papa seca is made from common varieties. This article describes how these and other products are made and their role within the Peruvian diet.     

Stabilization of cranberry anthocyanins in nutraceutical capsules

Anthocyanins can be considered spy-substances, useful in obtaining information regarding the shelf-life of food supplements containing cranberry juice or cranberry-derived extracts. The level of total anthocyanins, as evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode-array detector and analytically expressed as cyanidin aglycone, represents a ‘quality index’ useful for routine estimation of shelf-life. The objective of this work was to study the stability of anthocyanins in a commercial cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) dried extract compared with the stability of the same extract contained in a food supplement enriched with α-tocopheryl succinate and ascorbic acid. The values obtained after exposure of the samples to natural light and to alternating hot and cold temperatures show considerable sensitivity of the commercial cranberry dried extract to the agents used for the same evaluation (time, temperature and light) and emphasize a positive effect of the enrichment of the derived preparation with α-tocopheryl succinate and ascorbic acid.