Animal Source Foods - Adequate Food for All - page 184

in several cross-sectional studies in developing countries. The supplementation of
rural Kenyan schoolchildren with a snack containing meat almost eliminated their
previously high vitamin B 12 deficiency and increased their lean body mass. The chil-
dren receiving the supplement with meat were also more cognitively able, physically
active, and social initiating than children provided with snacks that did not contain
animal source foods. The provision of milk improved height gain, particularly in
those children who were stunted. In addition to providing considerable amounts of
easily available heme iron, meat tissue is known to have an enhancing effect on non-
heme iron absorption from other food components in the same meal. Several studies
have shown that the inclusion of meat alone or in addition to other enhancers of iron
bioavailability can improve nonheme iron absorption and as a consequence helps
reduce iron deficiency. An increase in the consumption of animal source foods by
children in developing countries offers a viable food-based approach to increase the
intake of highly bioavailable nutrients and improve their functional outcome.
IntRoductIon
Micronutrient malnutrition is widely prevalent among children in developing coun-
tries and is probably the main nutritional problem in the world posing important pub-
lic health problems with long-term effects on human capital and national economic
growth. Besides iron deficiency anemia, vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency
disorders, deficiencies of zinc, vitamin B 12 , folate, and others are increasingly recog-
nized, and many population groups do not suffer from single, but from simultaneous
deficiencies of multiple nutrients (ACC Sub-Committee on Nutrition 2000), which
can impair growth and immunity with an increased risk of morbidity, mortality, and
poor cognitive development, school performance, and physical activity. Maternal
micronutrient malnutrition during pregnancy and lactation impairs not only mater-
nal health but also neonatal growth and health.
Micronutrient deficiencies that often coexist with protein energy malnutrition are
caused not only by high morbidity rates and insufficient food quantity, but also by the
low quality of the diet common in many areas in developing countries. Diets predom-
inantly consist of cereals, tubers, and legumes, with varying amounts of legumes,
vegetables, and fruits grown on small farm holdings. Animal source foods, such as
meat, fish, fowl, or eggs, are compact and efficient sources of micronutrients, yet in
developing countries, their availability is limited, and they are eaten infrequently,
particularly by women and young children. The intake of protein from meat is usu-
ally extremely low, providing only 15% of dietary protein compared with around
60% in developed countries (Higgs and Pratt 1998). Animal milks are also consumed
in low quantities, often in tea or in fermented form. This type of diet is associated
with low intakes of several vitamins and minerals and poor mineral bioavailability.
Some but not all studies supplementing children with nutrients, particularly iron,
zinc, and vitamin A, were successful in improving growth and health. However, to
address multiple micronutrient deficiencies, approaches are needed that are able to
improve the intake of all limiting micronutrients at the same time. An increase in
the consumption of animal source foods by children in developing countries offers