F&N Bulletin Vol 23 No 1b - United Nations University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

104 T. Gopaldas as compared with 1.50 g/dl in the group receiving gooseberry juice. All dietary sources of vitamin C are very expensive and beyond the economic reach of our subjects. Enhancers such as ascorbic acid form soluble or chelated complexes with iron that prevent the iron from precipitating or polymerizing. Ascorbic acid also reduces ferric iron to ferrous iron at pH values greater than 3, such as are found in the duodenum and small intestine. Apparently ascorbic acid is doserelated and can act even in the presence of inhibitors [25]. Although the consumption of lime and lime juice did increase at the household level, it is a matter of conjecture whether the level of ascorbic acid would have been sufficient to have resulted in a mean increase in hemoglobin of 1.50 g/dl in the working woman population. Ethiopian children who were given food cooked in iron pots had an increase in hemoglobin of 1.7 g/dl over a 12-month intervention period, a significantly higher value than the increase of 0.4 g/dl in children given food cooked in aluminum pots [26]. The subjects in our study rejected outright the idea of replacing aluminum cooking utensils with iron ones because food cooked rapidly in aluminum pots and the pots were easy to clean and easy to maintain. Pressure cookers were made of aluminum. In unit 2, 75% of the working women were intrigued by our IEC poster advising them to put an iron key into the lentil soup as it cooked and had tried to do so a few times at their homes. However, the men in the household objected strongly, stating that the food tasted “strange” and “bad.” Conclusions Employers should be first targeted and informed about the concept of a workplace lunch plus IEC. Behavioral change will be immediate or not at all. Concrete dietary or medicinal interventions at the workplace, if given free of cost, appear to give the best results as far as reduction in iron-deficiency anemia is concerned. The young working woman, especially if she is unmarried, has very real constraints of money and time, and has no control over her kitchen. Both the employer and the employee need organizational and managerial help to implement and sustain such a program. The employees appreciate the IEC and implement the dietary recommendations to the extent possible. However, their time and economic constraints are the real limitations to total behavioral change or sustainability. In urban India, aluminum cooking utensils have come to stay. Hence, iron woks will not be used. Although the intervention with fermented food (iddli) did not increase the mean hemoglobin levels (1.20 g/dl) as much as the gooseberry juice or the medicinal supplementation interventions (1.50 g/dl), it was the food-based iddli intervention that was most appreciated. Enhancing the hemoglobin levels of young working women makes good economic sense. Such a strategy brings about good labor relations apart from the established rewards of greater productivity, better reproductive health, better cognition, and an all-round better working atmosphere. Acknowledgments This paper is part of a larger research study entitled “An information-education-communication (IEC) project for working girls (18–23 years) on cultural dietary practices to increase the iron content of their everyday diets” funded by the Thrasher Research Fund (Contract 03001-0), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, from 1 May 1998 to 30 April 2000. I thank all my research colleagues, particularly Dr. Arati Singh, the project coordinator. I am also thankful to the managers of the four study units and the 302 female employees who took part in this study. References 1. Basta SS, Soekiraman MS, Karyadi D, Scrimshaw NS. Iron deficiency anemia and the productivity of adult males in Indonesia, Am J Clin Nutr 1979;32:916–25. 2. Edgerton VR, Ohira Y, Hettiarachi J, Senewiratne B, Gardner GW, Barnard RJ. Elevation of hemoglobin and work performance in iron-deficient subjects. J Nutr Sci 1981;27:77–86. 3. Vijayalakshmi P, Kupputhai U, Maheswari VU. Anemia and work output of farm women. Indian J Nutr Diet 1987;24:253–9. 4. Pollitt E, Soemantri AG, Unis F, Scrimshaw NS. Cognitive effects of iron-deficiency anemia (Letter to the editor). Lancet 1985;1:158. 5. Lozoff B. Methodologic issues in studying behavioral effects of infant iron-deficiency anemia. Am J Clin Nutr 1989;50:641–54. 6. Gopaldas T, Sheshadri S. Nutrition monitoring and evaluation. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987. 7. Oser BL. Hawks physiological chemistry. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 1976.
Iron-deficiency anemia in young working women 8. World Health Organization. Nutritional anemias. WHO Technical Report Series No. 405. Report of a WHO Scientific Group. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1968. 9. Gopalan C, Ram Shastri BV, Balasubramaniyan SC. Nutritive value of Indian foods. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, 1989 and 1993. 10. Indian Council of Medical Research. Nutrient requirements and recommended dietary allowances for Indians. A report of an expert group. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, 1992. 11. Chandrashekhar TC. Nutrition profile of Karnataka. Hyderabad: Department of Women and Child Development of Karnataka and UNICEF, 1996. 12. Sheshadri S, Shah A, Bhade S. Hematologic response of preschool children to ascorbic acid supplementation. J Hum Nutr Appl Nutr 1985;39A:151–4. 13. Fairweather–Tait SJ. Bioavailability of iron. In: Nestel P, ed. Iron interventions for child survival. Washington, DC: Opportunities for Micronutrient Interventions/ USAID, 1995:13–30. 14. Vijayaraghavan K. Vitamin A deficiency. In: Bamji MS, Prahalad Rao N, Reddy V. Textbook of human nutrition. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996:287–97. 15 Seshadri S. A data base on iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in India. Prevalence, causes, consequences and strategies for prevention. A Report. Baroda: Department of Foods and Nutrition and WHO Collaborating Center for Nutrition Research, M. S. University, 1996. 16 Narasinga Rao BS, Vijaysarathy C, Prabhavati TC. Iron absorption from habitual diets of Indians, studied by the extrinsic tag technique. Indian J Med Res 1983; 77:648–57. 17. Gibson RS, Ferguson EL. Nutrition intervention strategies to combat zinc deficiency in developing countries. Nutr Res Rev 1998;11:115–31. 105 18. Gibson RS, Yeudall F, Drost N, Mtitimuni B, Cullinan T. Dietary interventions to prevent zinc deficiency. Am J Clin Nutr 1998;68(suppl):484S–7S. 19. Chavan JK, Kadam SS. Nutritional improvement of cereals by fermentation. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 1989; 28:349–400. 20. Lorri W. Potential for developing new home-based food processing and preparation techniques to improve micronutrient nutrition. Abstract of paper presented at the Food-Based Approaches for Preventing Micronutrient Malnutrition. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, 1996. 21. Svanberg V. Dietary interventions to prevent iron deficiency in preschool children. In: Nestel P, ed. Proceedings: Interventions for child survival. Washington, DC: Opportunities for Micronutrient Interventions/USAID, 1995:31–44. 22. Marfo EK, Simpson BK, Idowu JS, Oke OL. Effect of local food processing on phytate levels in cassava, cocoyam, yam, maize, sorghum, rice, cowpea and soyabean. J Agric Food Chem 1990;38:1580–5. 23. Sandberg AS, Hulthen LR, Turk M. Dietary Aspergillus niger phytase increases iron absorption in humans. J Nutr 1996;126:476–80. 24. Sheshadri S, Budhwarkar S. Effect of guava fruit (Psidium gujava) consumption with the meals on Hb levels in young anemic women: A report. Baroda: Department of Food and Nutrition, M. S. University, 1998. 25. Desrosiers T, Clydesdale F. Effectiveness of organic chelators in solubilizing calcium and zinc in fortified cereals under simulated gastrointestinal pH conditions. J Food Proc Preserv 1989;13:307–19. 26. Adish AA, Esrey SA, Gyorkos TW, Jean-Baptiste J, Rajhani A. Effect of consumption of food cooked in iron pots on iron status and growth of young children. A randomized trial. Lancet 1999;353:712–6.
Page 1 and 2:
Contents Review articles Nuclear an
Page 3 and 4:
Special Article Nuclear and isotopi
Page 5 and 6:
Nuclear and isotopic techniques 5 T
Page 7 and 8:
Nuclear and isotopic techniques 7 T
Page 9 and 10:
Nuclear and isotopic techniques the
Page 11 and 12:
Palm oil: A healthful and cost-effe
Page 13 and 14:
Palm oil will be less absorbed and
Page 15 and 16:
Palm oil oil at the present time is
Page 17 and 18:
Palm oil crystal forms for the requ
Page 19 and 20:
Palm oil myristic acid (14:0) is hi
Page 21 and 22:
Palm oil 13. Kritchevsky D. Influen
Page 23 and 24:
Introduction to three regional stud
Page 25 and 26:
Nutritional status of urban primary
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Regional study of nutritional statu
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Regional study of nutritional statu
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Street food vendors their consumers
Page 51 and 52:
Street food vendors whereas roasted
Page 53 and 54: Street food vendors Reardon [28] co
Page 55 and 56: Street food vendors so that bad pre
Page 57 and 58: Iron and energy supplementation imp
Page 59 and 60: Iron and energy supplementation the
Page 61 and 62: Iron and energy supplementation The
Page 63 and 64: Iron and energy supplementation 63
Page 65 and 66: Toward better compliance with iron-
Page 73 and 74: Development and validation of a sho
Page 83 and 84: Factors associated with successful
Page 89 and 90: Difference in goiter rates between
Page 91 and 92: Difference in goiter rates Methods
Page 93 and 94: Difference in goiter rates iodized
Page 95 and 96: Iron-deficiency anemia in young wor
Page 103: Iron-deficiency anemia in young wor
Page 107 and 108: Discussion paper What care practice
Page 109 and 110: Letter to the Editor 109 iodized sa
Page 111 and 112: News and notes 2001 World Food Priz
Page 113 and 114: UNU Food and Nutrition Programme NU
Page 115: Note for contributors The editors o
show all

F&N Bulletin Vol 23 No 1b - United Nations University

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?