Food and nutrition.pdf

100 Function of Foodrecent guidelines were the outcome of an Expert Consultation held jointlyby FAO, WHO and United Nations University (UNU) in Rome in 1981(WHO, 1985). The safe level of intake for a one-year-old child was put at1.5 g per kilogram of body weight. The amount then falls to 1 glkg at agesix years. The United States recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is alittle higher, namely 1.75 g/kg at age one year and 1.2 g/kg at age six years.In adults the FAO/WHO/UNU safe intake of protein is 0.8 g/kg for femalesand 0.85 g/kg for males.The safe levels of intake of protein by age and gender, including those. for pregnant and lactating women, are given in Ann2x 1. Values areprovided both for a diet high in fibre, comprising mainly cereals, rootsand legumes with little food of animal origin, and for a mixed balanceddiet with less fibre and plenty of complete protein. As an example, a nonpregnantadult woman weighing 55 kg requires 49 g of protein per dayfor the first diet and 41 g per day for the second. Fibre reduces proteinutilization.Inadequate protein intake jeopardizes growth and repair in the body.Pro. "3in deficiency is especially dangerous for children because they aregrowing and also because the risk of infection is greater during childhoodthan at almost any other time of life. In children inadequate energy intakealso has an impact on protein., in the absence of adequate energy someprotein needs to be diverted and therefore will not be used for growth.In many developing countries (though not all), the intake of proteinis relatively low and of predominantly vegetable origin. The paucity offoods of animal origin in the diet is not always a matter of choice. Forexample, many low-income Africans and Latin Americans like animalproducts but find them less freely available, more difficult to produce andstore and more expensive than most vegetable products. Diets low in meat,fish and dairy products are very common in countries where most peopleare poor.Infections lead to an increased loss of nitrogen from the body, whichhas to be replaced by proteins in the diet. Therefore children and otherswho have frequent infections will have greater protein needs than healthypersons. This fact must constantly be borne in mind, for in developingcountries many children suffer an almost continual series of infectiousdiseases; they may frequently get diarrhoea, and they may harbourintestinal parasites.MineralsMinerals have a number of functions in the body. Sodium, potassiumand chlorine are present as salts in body fluids, where they have aphysiological role in maintaining osmotic pressure. Minerals form part