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Dietary and nutrient intakes of 25 Ningerum (New Guinea) adult males at two times of the year
Author(s) -
Ulijaszek Stanley J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.1310040406
Subject(s) - riboflavin , niacin , nutrient , zoology , vitamin , micronutrient , homogeneous , new guinea , food intake , dietary reference intake , medicine , food science , biology , mathematics , endocrinology , ecology , pathology , combinatorics , history , ethnology
In nutritional studies of traditional societies, it is often assumed that dietary intakes are sufficiently homogeneous for dietary studies of short duration to be adequate for accurate assessment of group nutrient intake. The present study examines this assumption by considering food and nutrient intakes of 25 adult males in rural Papua New Guinea (PNG). Five‐day weighed dietary intakes were carried out on each individual twice, with a 6‐month interval between measurements. The two measurements corresponded to the times of year when the climate was wet and wetter. Energy intakes, at 167 and 169 kJ/kg body weight, were within the range of values reported by other authors for adult males in PNG. Intakes of protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and calcium were low, while intakes of iron and vitamins A and C were above WHO (FAO/WHO, 1974) recommended daily allowances. Energy and nutrient intakes did not vary between the two times of year, with two exceptions: vitamin C and iron. Intakes of foods and food types varied between wet and wetter times, however. Within‐ and between‐subject coefficients of variation of intakes of energy and six nutrients were used to calculate sample sizes needed to obtain estimates of group intakes at different levels of reliability and number of days of dietary measurement. This varied with the nutrient under consideration and the time of year. At a given level of reliability, accurate estimates of carbohydrate intake could be obtained with smaller sample sizes and/or number of days of observation than for energy, protein, and vitamin C intakes. Longer periods or larger samples would have been needed for the estimation of group vitamin A, fat, and calcium intakes. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.