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

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96 T. Gopaldas rice and pulse curry, which as eaten three or four times a week. Fermented, steamed dumplings (iddli) were eaten once a week, and lime rice or curd rice twice a week. No beverage was carried to work, since tea was served several times at the workplace. Although fermented, steamed dumplings and fermented, fried pancakes were great favorites, it was laborious to soak and grind the rice and pulse and to steam or fry the fermented batter more than once a week. Fermented food lunches were the Monday treat and were eaten with spicy coconut chutney or pulse curry. Special food, including meat, was prepared on Sunday, the day for entertaining guests. All the earnings of these working women were handed over to the head of the household, but a small amount was given back to them for personal needs. We did not see the dire poverty or raw hunger of rural or slum India in this population group. Generally three to five adult members earned a collective income of Rs. 3000/– to Rs. 5000/– per month (Rs. 46 = 1US$). Water, space, and sanitation Few of the homes had piped water, private toilets, or clean surroundings. Water had to be fetched in buckets (at a nominal cost) from a common tap or borewell and stored at home. Very few homes had water filters in the kitchen. The most pronounced negative factors were the extreme congestion of the living space, absence of privacy, and absence of a separate kitchen. Almost all family members complained of worm infections or chronic diarrhea (amebiasis) and repeatedly asked for prescriptions for treatment. A few families that had a patch of ground grew greens, chilies, coriander, and vegetables for home consumption. Development and pretesting of the IEC content A list of 21 messages was developed. Each message was made into a large, colorful poster with simple captions in the local language. Each of these was tested over a one-month period, one a day per poster, at another ancillary unit that was similar to the four units where our study was to be conducted. All the messages were understood and appreciated. The women were concerned about their appearance and grooming, but not necessarily their health. They showed particular interest in the posters showing how to rid oneself and family members of intestinal infections. Almost all the women in the unit where we did the pretesting and at our four study units had more than a primary school education in the local language, Kannada. Standardization and use of other methods Well-known standard methods were used for all measures or indicators [6]. Hemoglobin estimations were performed by the direct cyanmethemoglobin method on all subjects within a week of completion of the dietary surveys [7, 8]. The World Health Organization (WHO) cutoffs used for hemoglobin levels were severe anemia (< 7 g/dl), moderate anemia (7–9.9 g/dl), mild anemia (10–11.9 g/dl), and normal (12 g/dl) [8]. Dietary and nutrient intake survey At least two home visits were made for each subject to obtain 24-hour recall data. The raw food commodities were weighed on the first visit. The cooked food and that consumed by the woman (inclusive of her packed lunch) were assessed the next day on a subset of 180 randomly selected families. The nutritive value of raw foods was calculated from 1989 Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data [9]. The recommended daily allowance of nutrients was calculated from ICMR 1992 data [10]. A few informal participatory research assessments were held at the workplace in unit 1, to get to know whether more of the fermented food iddlis was being made and consumed at home in response to the IEC, and if not, what were the real constraints. The supervisors (also employees) gave useful feedback in units 1 and 2. Data processing and analysis The data were entered using Foxbase, and data files were created. After the data were checked and validated for internal consistency, SPSS was used for tabulation and statistical analysis. All test results were considered significant at p < .05. Results The socioeconomic profile of the sample is given in table 2. The average age of the women in each unit ranged from 20 to 23 years. In each of the four units, most of the women had a primary school or junior college level of education in the local language, Kannada. Hence, overall they were in a good position to comprehend the IEC and the lectures given by our staff. Approximately half of the women had married, usually at 18 to 20 years of age, except for unit 4 (the negative control), where were all still unmarried at a mean age of 20. Dietary intakes The average daily intakes of foodstuffs by the women before and after the study are given in table 3. Cereals and millets. The Nutrition Profile of Karnataka [11] indicates that adolescent girls (over 16 years) and young women consume on average of 605 g cere-
Iron-deficiency anemia in young working women 97 TABLE 2. Socioeconomic profile of the working women Unit 2: Unit 3: medicinal Unit 4: nega- Unit 1: iddli gooseberry supplements tive control Characteristic (n = 72) juice (n = 80) (n = 70) (n = 80) Average age (yr) 23 21 22 20 Education (%) Illiterate 11 8 17 0 Up to primary school 15 30 23 0 Primary school and/or college 74 62 60 100 Marital status (%) Married 54 48 64 0 Unmarried 46 52 36 100 Urban or rural background (%) Urban 100 100 83 66 Rural 0 0 17 34 Years of work experience (%) < 1 0 0 0 0 1–3 56 89 91 88 > 3 44 11 9 12 TABLE 3. Average daily food intake (grams) before and after intervention Unit 2: Unit 3: medicinal Unit 4: Unit 1: iddli gooseberry supplements negative control (n = 45) juice (n = 45) (n = 45) (n = 45) Food RDA a Before After Before After Before After Before After Cereals 440 491 ± 39 670 ± 21** 483 ± 41 667 ± 19* 513 ± 9 593 ± 3* 589 ± 30 609 ± 21 NS Pulses 45 28 ± 8 35 ± 4** 21 ± 2 21 ± 9 29 ± 9 30 ± 2 34 ± 8 34 ± 7* Green leafy 100 11 ± 9 19 ± 4* 16 ± 3 20 ± 8* 10 ± 4 8 ± 3 10 ± 2 10 ± 1 NS vegetables Other vegetables 40 21 ± 3 29 ± 9** 19 ± 3 22 ± 4* 22 ± 2 24 ± 1 24 ± 2 25 ± 5 NS Roots and tubers 50 31 ± 1 33 ± 3 NS 29 ± 9 30 ± 2 NS 31 ± 2 30 ± 3 40 ± 2 42 ± 1 NS Oils and fats 25 6 ± 1 6 ± 2 NS 5 ± 1 7 ± 2* 6 ± 1 7 ± 4 NS 7 ± 3 8 ± 4 NS Milk 150 33 ± 4 35 ± 1 NS 30 ± 4 31 ± 3* 27 ± 3 NS 27 ± 1 30 ± 3 31 ± 1 NS Sugar and 20 21 ± 4 20 ± 3 NS 25 ± 3 30 ± 1* 20 ± 3 NS 21 ± 4 30 ± 9 31 ± 8 NS jaggery Fruit 100 27 ± 9 38 ± 4* 20 ± 1 28 ± 5* 19 ± 3 NS 20 ± 1 22 ± 3 NS 23 ± 5 NS Meat and eggs 30 15 ± 1 19 ± 3** 10 ± 1 11 ± 3 NS 12 ± 2 13 ± 3 NS 19 ± 2 19 ± 3 NS a. Recommended daily allowance. * p < .1; ** p < .01; *** p < .001; NS, not significant. als daily, as compared with the RDA of 440 g. In our study the daily intake of cereals increased from 519 to 635 g. Pulses. The mean intake of pulses among our subjects at presurvey was 28 g, as compared with the RDA of 45 g. Pulses are very expensive. Generally, to make iddli, a fermented food, two measures of raw rice to one measure of split black gram (Phaseolus mungo Roxb.) is used in middle- to upper middle-class homes. However, we noted that only half to one-fifth the amount of black gram was used due to its high cost. The pulse soup, which was an everyday item also contained minimal quantities of red gram (Cajanus cajan). To compensate, large quantities of red chili powder and tamarind pulp (to sour the soup) were used. A significant increase in pulse consumption at the postsurvey was noted only in unit 1. Green leafy vegetables. The presurvey revealed an extremely poor consumption of green leafy vegetables. The mean intake was 12 g as compared with the RDA of 100 g. In the postsurvey, the intake of green leafy vegetables increased significantly in units 1 and 2 where the IEC was given. The seasonal green leafy vegetables were drumstick leaves (Moringa oleifera), knolkhol (Brassica oleracea), agathi (Sesbanis grandiflora), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), and cabbage. Other vegetables. In India tomatoes are considered a vegetable and not a fruit. They were used in daily
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Contents Review articles Nuclear an
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Special Article Nuclear and isotopi
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Nuclear and isotopic techniques 5 T
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Nuclear and isotopic techniques 7 T
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Nuclear and isotopic techniques the
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Palm oil: A healthful and cost-effe
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Palm oil will be less absorbed and
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Palm oil oil at the present time is
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Palm oil crystal forms for the requ
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Palm oil myristic acid (14:0) is hi
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Palm oil 13. Kritchevsky D. Influen
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Introduction to three regional stud
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Nutritional status of urban primary
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Regional study of nutritional statu
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Regional study of nutritional statu
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Page 45 and 46: Nutritional status of urban primary
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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
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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: Iron-deficiency anemia in young wor
Page 99 and 100: 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
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F&N Bulletin Vol 23 No 1b - United Nations University

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