Lactose digestion and maldigestion: implications for dietary habits in developing countries

Development, Production, and Quality Control of Nutritional Supplements for a National Supplementation Programme in Mexico

The objective of this study was to develop supplements for nutritional support of children less than two years old and for pregnant and lactating women under a multidisciplinary Programme of Education, Health, and Nutrition (PROGRESA) that the Mexican Government is implementing for populations in extreme poverty. Nutrient composition, physicochemical properties, and feasibility of production and utilization were considered in designing the supplements. The nutrient composition took into account the dietary patterns and nutritional status of the target populations. The ingredients and processing methods were selected considering local availability and production at a relatively low cost while maintaining a supplement of a high quality that would be widely accepted by the target population. The final products were initially evaluated for acceptability by 40 children, 52 pregnant women, and 62 lactating women. Nine products were developed: six for children and three for women. The children's products were three powders that were used to prepare a beverage with chocolate, vanilla, and banana flavours and three powders that were used to prepare a more viscous solution in the form of pap with the same three flavours. After the acceptance test, the use of the pap supplements was recommended for children four months to two years of age. The supplements for women were also powders used to prepare a beverage with vanilla or banana flavour or with no flavour. The products were widely accepted in sensory evaluation tests. For the children's products, the average scores were 4.11 to 4.29 for the beverage and 3.98 to 4.15 for the viscous mixture (range, 1 to 5). The women's products received average scores of 4.75 to 5.70 from pregnant women and 4.80 to 5.40 from lactating women (range, 1 to 7). Evaluation in the community demonstrated that the supplements were widely acceptable and well consumed. Today more than three million rations of supplements are consumed every day, and an evaluation of their potential benefits is being carried out.

Can Chinese Children Drink Milk?

A controlled milk-intervention trial in Chinese schoolchildren showed that participants were able to consume 330 mL of milk every school day for 2 years.

New concepts on nutritional management of severe malnutrition: the role of protein

Current guidelines for the management of severe malnutrition are mainly based on new concepts regarding the causes of malnutrition and on advances in our knowledge of the physiological roles of micronutrients. In contrast to the early 'protein dogma', there is a growing body of evidence that severely malnourished children are unable to tolerate large amounts of dietary protein during the initial phase of treatment. Similarly, great caution must be exercised to avoid excessive supply of iron and sodium in the diet, while keeping energy intake at maintenance levels during early treatment. Because severely malnourished children require special micronutrients, a mineral-vitamin mix is added to the milk-based formula diets, which are specially designed for the initial treatment and the rehabilitation phase. To further improve nutritional rehabilitation and reduce cases of relapse, 'ready-to-use therapeutic food' and 'ready-to-eat nutritious supplements' with relatively low protein (10% protein calories) and high fat content (54-59% lipidic calories) have been developed. Although current dietary recommendations do not differentiate between oedematous and nonoedematous forms of malnutrition or between adults and children, there are indications that further clarification is still needed for applying dietary measures for specific target groups.