People Cannot Live by Tortillas Alone: The Results of the Mexico Nutrition CRSP

摘要

Latest research findings point toward a link between marginal malnutrition andfunctional deficiencies among the children of developing countries. The report discusses the Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) conducted in Solis Valley, Mexico, from 1982-86. (The program was part of a larger study, which included counterpart studies in Egypt and Kenya, designed to gather data representative of marginally malnourished children in developing countries worldwide.) The study discovered that growth-stunted children of Solis Valley were suffering, not from an energy or protein deficiency (their diet of beans, tortillas, and pasta is protein-rich), but from a lack of vitamins and absorbable minerals (micronutrients) found in animal products, fruits, and vegetables. In addition, there appeared to be a link between diet and functional performance: children who existed primarily on the bean, tortilla, and pasta diet were smaller, more lethargic, less interactive, and performed more poorly on cognitive tests. Children who ate higher quality diets, and whose mothers ate more nutritiously, were more interactive, larger, and achieved higher scores on cognitive tests.