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ASCORBIC ACID STUDIES IN ABORIGINES
Author(s) -
STUART J. E.,
CONNELLAN P.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1973.tb01871.x
Subject(s) - ascorbic acid , medicine , breast milk , excretion , physiology , breast feeding , pediatrics , zoology , food science , biochemistry , biology
Twelve ascorbic acid saturation tests were performed on Aboriginal children aged from six weeks to three years admitted to the Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, and sixty‐five were performed on thirty‐two Aboriginal babies aged two days to fifteen months at Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement. Results were expressed as a percentage of the expected excretion and showed that a significant number of Aboriginal children excreted less than 50% of the expected amount, suggesting ascorbic acid deficiency. Follow up tests on a number of Cherbourg babies, together with feeding information, demonstrated that “Lactogen” fed babies were more likely to excrete normal amounts of ascorbic acid, while babies fed on “Sunshine” powdered milk or pasteurised milk usually excreted abnormally low amounts of ascorbic acid. Saturation tests performed on breast fed babies produced variable results and analysis of the breast milk itself for ascorbic acid confirmed that there was much variation from normal to very low amounts in the Aboriginal mothers.