Variability of Total Energy and Protein Intake in Rural Bangladesh: Implications for Epidemiological Studies of Diet in Developing Countries

Abstract

It has been recognized for some time that nutrient intakes show large day-to-day variations within the same individual in industrialized countries. However, little attention has been given to the quantification of within-and between-person components of the variation in developing countries. Within-person variability determines the number of measurements of dietary intake per person that will be needed to adequately represent the dietary intake of an individual over a period of time. A large within-person variation relative to the variation between persons in the intake of a nutrient decreases the strength of the observed association of the latter with an outcome of interest.This study quantified components of variation for 834 people of both sexes and various age groups and found that, although the diet in rural Bangladesh includes a limited number of food items-over 80% of calorie and protein intakes are provided by cereals, with rice being the main staple-the daily variability of nutrient intake in each individual over a year was as large as that reported for industrialized countries. The authors estimate that about seven days would be needed to assess total energy and protein intakes adequately, while much longer measurement periods would be needed for animal protein.

Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of variation in food and nutrient intake in an Andean community

“…However, our ability to document the health effects of nutrient deficiencies in thirdworld communities may be quite low. High VRs have now been observed in a number of developing countries, including Mexico (Calloway et al, 1988), Bangladesh (Torres et al, 1990), and Ecuador (this study), and may well be observed throughout the developing world. This must be considered when planning nutrition surveys and anthropological studies in developing countries; there are two issues to consider.…”

“…Having a high VR for most nutrients may be typical for populations in the developing world, whereas in developed countries the VRs are often close to 1. Using energy and protein in adult females for example, the VRs in this study are 2.0 and 2.5, in Mexico 1.2 and 2.7 (Calloway et al, 1988), and in Bangladesh 1.9 and 9 (Torres et al, 1990). By contrast, in Toronto the VRs for energy and protein were 1.2 and 1.2 (Beaton et al, 1979), and in Cambridge they were 1.2 and 1.4 (Nelson et al, 1989).…”

Dietary intake of micronutrient and Basal Metabolic Index of women in rural Pakistan

“…Weight and height were used to determine the nutritional status through BMI where the results showed the nearly same mean of heights and weights of the rural women from the three villages of Nowshera leading to correspondingly same mean values of BMI in all the villages. The average BMI was higher than normal and a significantly high BMI in women was observed in studies conducted by Chowdhury (1985) and Torres et al (1990). Approximately similar status of nutrition of women was reported in similar studies.…”

Evaluation of the Impact of Messages to Improve the Diets of Lactating Rural Bangladeshi Women on Their Dietary Practices and the of Their Breast-Fed Infants

“…The baseline measure was taken during a more plentiful, cooler season. The first post-education measurement, in May-July, spanned the hot, rainy period that is often accompanied by swelling rivers and flooding, and lower food intakes [50,51]. The final measure in October-November characterized a post-monsoon, pre-harvest season when the nutrition status of women in other studies was lowest [6,52].…”