1. Preschool children and schoolchildren from a rural area in the northeast of Thailand were compared with children from urban areas for prealbumin, albumin, transferrin, α1B-glycoprotein, the acute-phase reactants α1-acid glycoprotein, α1-antichymotrypsin. haptoglobin and the proteinase inhibitors α1-protease inhibitor (AlPI) as well as α1-macroglobulin (α2M). Urinary urea nitrogen: creatinine (U-C) as well as haemoglobin were also determined. Village preschool children were grouped according to their SD score for weight-for-height based on the (US) National Center for Health Statistics (1976) standard into a normal group with SD scores of ≥ −1.99 and an undernourished group with SD scores of ≤ −2.00.

2. There was no significant difference between the normal and the undernourished groups of preschool children for any of the factors measured.

3. Haemoglobin and prealbumin concentrations of preschool children were lower in the rural children than in the urban preschool children from Bangkok.

4. In rural schoolchildren haemoglobin was lower but albumin, transfemn, α1B-glycoprotein and haptoglobin were higher than in urban schoolchildren from the provincial town of Khon Kaen.

5. Serum concentrations of the proteinase inhibitors AlPI and α2M were significantly higher in the rural children than in the urban children.

6. U-C values were lower in rural schoolchildren compared with urban schoolchildren.

1. The modification of iron absorption from Fe(III)EDTA by agents known to promote or inhibit absorption was examined in 101 volunteer multiparous Indian women. Fe absorption from Fe(III)EDTA was compared with absorption of intrinsic food Fe in a further twenty-eight subjects. Finally the urinary excretion of radio-Fe after oral administration of 59Fe(III)EDTA was studied in twenty-four subjects and evidence of intraluminal exchange of Fe was examined.

2. Fe absorption from maize porridge fortified with Fe(III)EDTA was more than twice that from porridge fortified with FeSO4. 7H2O.

3. Although bran decreased Fe absorption from FeSO4. 7H2O approximately 11-fold, it had no significant effect on Fe absorption from Fe(III)EDTA. Nevertheless tea, which is a more potent inhibitor of Fe absorption, decreased absorption from Fe(III)EDTA 7-fold.

4. Fe absorption from Fe(III)EDTA given in water was only increased 40% by addition of 3 mol ascorbic acid/mol Fe but by 7-fold when the relative proportions were increased to 6:1. This enhancing effect was blunted when the Fe(III)EDTA was given with maize porridge. In these circumstances, an ascorbate:iron value of 3:1 (which doubles absorption from FeSO4. 7H2O) produced no significant increase in Fe absorption, while a value of 6:1 produced only a 2.5-fold increase.

5. Fe absorption from Fe(III)EDTA was not altered by addition of maize porridge unless ascorbic acid was present.

6. Less than 1% of 59Fe administered as 59Fe(III)EDTA was excreted in the urine and there was an inverse relationship between Fe absorption and the amounts excreted (r 0.58, P > 0.05).

7. Isotope exchange between 55Fe(III)EDTA and 59FeSO4. 7H2O was demonstrated by finding a similar relative value for the two isotopes in urine and erythrocytes when the two labelled compounds were given together orally. This finding was confirmed by in vitro studies, which showed enhanced 59Fe solubilization from 59FeSO4. 7H2O in maize porridge when unlabelled Fe(III)EDTA was added.

8. Although Fe absorption from Fe(III)EDTA was marginally higher it appeared to form a common pool with intrinsic food iron in most studies. It is postulated that the mechanism whereby Fe(III)EDTA forms a common pool with intrinsic food Fe differs from that occurring with simple Fe salts. When Fe is present in the chelated form it remains in solution and is relatively well absorbed because it is protected from inhibitory ligands. Simple Fe salts, however, are not similarly protected and are absorbed as poorly as the intrinsic food Fe.

9. It is concluded that Fe(III)EDTA may be a useful compound for food fortification of cereals because the Fe is well absorbed and utilized for haemoglobin synthesis. The substances in cereals which inhibit absorption of simple Fe salts do not appear to inhibit absorption of Fe from Fe(III)EDTA.

1. Nitrogen balance, weight loss and resting metabolic rate were measured in thirty-eight obese inpatients on 3.4 MJ (800 kcal)/d diets over 3 weeks.

2. All subjects were fed on 13% protein-energy in three rneals/d for the first week.

3. In weeks 2 or 3, using a cross-over design, ten subjects were fed on 15 or 10% protein-energy as three meals/d; fourteen subjects were fed on five or one meal/d with 13%protein energy; and fourteen subjects were fed on 15% protein-energy as five meals/d or 10% protein-energy as one meal/d.

4. N loss was least on the high-protein week and frequent-meal week: the largest difference was found when these effects were combined (P < 0.001).

5. When protein-energy was held constant at 13% N loss decreased significantly (P < 0.01) between week 2 and 3, but when the protein-energy was manipulated there was no significant N conservation in the third week. This suggests that the protein:energy value is more important than meal frequency in the preservation of lean tissue.

6. Weight loss was also least on the ‘high-protein’ week and ‘frequent-meal’ week, but this result reached significance only when the effects were combined (P < 0.05).

7. Resting metabolic rate decreased with time but was not significantly altered by the dietary regimens.

8. Therefore, during the first 3 weeks at an intake of 3.4 MJ/d, a diet with a high-protein concentration, fed as frequent small meals, is associated with better preservation of lean tissue than an isoenergetic diet with lower-protein concentration fed as fewer meals. There was no evidence that meal frequency or protein concentration affect the rate of fat loss.

1. Duration of lactational amenorrhoea and interpreganancy interval were related to maternal body-weight in an urban low-income group population of 2250 women.

2. Breast-feeding practices were similar in all the women, none of whom had received any nutritional intervention.

3. In the study group the mean duration of lactation, lactational amenorrhoea and interpregnancy interval (months) were 20.7, 11.2 and 24.2 respectively.

4. Mean duration of lactation was significantly shorter in women whose body-weights were over 55 kg. Duration of lactational amenorrhoea increased with increasing duration of lactation (r 0.5164).

5. The duration of lactational amenorrhoea showed a progressive fall with increasing body-weight (r − 0.8139) even when duration of lactation was kept constant.

6. The mean duration of post-partum amenorrhoea in women who did not lactate remained unaltered irrespective of body-weight.

7. The findings suggest that maternal nutritional status modifies return of menstruation only in lactating women.

1. Serum levels of retinol-binding protein (RBP), total vitamin A and retinyl ester were measured in twenty-four malnourished children with corneal lesions and nine normal children.

2. Initially, the RBP and vitamin A levels were significantly lower in malnourished children than in normal children.

3. After intramuscular injection of 30000 μg of aqueous vitamin A, serum levels of total vitamin A were increased significantly at 24 h and tended to fall within 5 d of treatment in both groups.

4. Before treatment, retinyl ester accounted for less than 10% of the vitamin in circulation. After vitamin A injection, it increased to 30%, a level much lower than that reported in patients with hypervitaminosis A.

5. There was no significant difference between the two groups of children and none of them showed clinical signs of toxicity. These observations indicate that administration of massive doses of vitamin A over a short period will not produce toxic effects even in malnourished children.

1. A group of 129 patients with chronic alcoholism were assessed for their nutritional status with respect to certain minerals and vitamins, and compared with control subjects.

2. In all subjects the plasma values were normal for calcium, magnesium and zinc.

3. As in other studies a seasonal variation was found in the plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the control subjects and the alcoholic subjects; in all seasons lower levels were found in the alcoholics than in the controls, but none of the alcoholic patients had results in the range found in osteomalacia.

4. The alcoholic subjects had low levels of ascorbic acid both in the plasma and in the leucocytes.

5. Although vitamin A and β-carotene levels were within the reference range, the results in alcoholics were found to be lower than in the control subjects.

6. We suggest that subclinical vitamin deficiencies other than thiamine deficiency contribute to the cerebral impairment frequently found in alcoholism.

1. The hypocholesterolæmic effect of soya-bean protein compared with that of casein, when fed at 200 g/kg diet for 3 weeks, was studied in rats.

2. Using a cholesterol-free low-fat (10 g maize oil/kg) diet, the hypocholesterolæmic effect was demonstrated not only with soya-bean protein but also with an amino acid mixture simulating this protein. The addition of lysine to these diets did not modify their intrinsic effects on serum cholesterol.

3. By feeding the vegetable protein or its amino acid mixture, both high-density-lipoprotein-and very-low-density-lipoprotein plus low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol decreased to a similar extent, and the concentration of serum apolipoprotein A-I decreased and that of apolipoprotein B increased.

4. Although rats given soya-bean protein excreted more neutral and acidic steroids, the difference disappeared when the amino acid mixture was fed, indicating that the hypocholesterolæmic effect of the vegetable protein is not ascribed only to the increased elimination of steroids.

5. It is likely that the difference in the amino acid composition between animal and vegetable proteins is in fact responsible for the different response of serum cholesterol.

1. Review of the evidence of the Irish Nutrition Survey concerning a marked rise in the incidence of rickets in Dublin in 1942 concludes that a rise in the extraction rate of the national flour from 70 to 100% was principally responsible.

2. This rise and subsequent decrease in incidence as the extraction rate of flour was reduced is not explained by changes in the proportion of children protected by vitamin D supplements or by small changes in dietary vitamin D intake.

3. The evidence suggests that nutritional rickets in man cannot be explained on the basis of deficient vitamin D intake alone, whether derived from diet or U.V. radiation.

1. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated at 100 g into either an ad lib.-fed control group or a food-restricted group. The restricted group was fed for 9 d at 25% of ad lib. intake. Controls were killed at a body-weight of 100 g and 29 d of age and the restricted animlas were killed at 70 g and 38 d of age.

2. The effects of food restriction on muscle weight, fibre number, fibre diameter, DNA, and protein were examined in three skeletal muscles, the soleus, plantaris and extensor digitorum longus (EDL).

3. Acute dietary restriction caused body- and muscle-weight loss and a decrease in both the number and cross-sectional area of muscle fibres in each of the muscles.

4. The restriction halted growth-related increases in DNA in all muscles and decreased the protein: DNA value in the plantaris and EDL.

5. These results indicate that present theories describing cellular development are not adequate to define growth potential or growth retardation of skeletal muscle.

1. The dietary intakes of sixty-three adults, randomly-selected from the electoral role of a large village near Cambridge, have been measured using the weighed-intake technique for 7 d.

2. Mean (±sD) daily intakes (g) for men and women respectively were: energy (MJ) 10.0±2.4, 8.2±2.1; fat 104±27,90±21; protein 77±20,67± 16; carbohydrate 285±81,229±74; sucrose 91±47, 57±33.

3. When interviewed at the end of the study 40% of subjects said they were watching their weight.

4. Women ate less food over all than men, and proportionately less potato and bread, and used only one-third as much sugar in drinks, probably in an attempt to control their weight. Men took considerably more alcohol than the women. In the age-group 20–39 years alcohol provided 9% (1.0 MJ/d) of the total energy intake in the men.

5. Wide variation in the intake of nutrients was observed amongst the individuals. For vitamin C and fibre intake this was partly explained by seasonal variation but for most nutrients total energy intake and food choice were the main determinants. The range. of intakes of nutrients such as fat was similar in these individuals to that seen amongst countries internationally. It is suggested that if differences in nutrient intake amongst the various populations of the world can be associated with disease risk, then the same interpretation should be possible in individuals.

1. Milk productions and 7d dietary records were determined on twenty-seven mothers who had been breast-feeding for 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 months.

2. The mean milk productions for each group of mothers was 1.187, 1.238, 1.128, 0.884, 0.880 and 0.951 kg/24 h at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 months of lactation respectively. There was no significant difference between two milk determinations 3–7 d apart on each mother or between the mean milk production of each group of mothers.

3. Energy intakes of the infants was found to be higher than the usually-accepted values at 1 and 3 months of age but by 6 months were similar to the accepted normal values.

4. Energy intakes of the mothers although greater than those recommended for similar non-lactating women were not sufficient to take into account the energy content of the milk.

1. Reproductive competence, as measured by weight gain during pregnancy, duration of pregnancy and foetal outcome, was assessed in primiparous rats (4–6 months of age) with various histories of malnutrition.

2. Although weight gain during pregnancy was reduced in rats with intergenerational malnutrition, the duration of pregnancy and number of live births did not differ from well-fed controls, suggesting adaptation of these measures to long-term dietary deprivation.

3. Rats malnourished from birth through pregnancy (one generation of malnutrition) had fewer live births than did rats with chronic, intergenerational malnutrition or well-fed control rats.

4. Gestation was prolonged and weight gain accelerated among female rats with histories of intergenerational malnutrition, who had been provided with an adequate diet from birth through pregnancy.

1. Acute riboflavin deficiency was produced in weanling rats by feeding a deficient diet and using tailcups to prevent refection. Animals were killed at weekly interval for 7 weeks, by the end of which they had become severely deficient, and mortality was high.

2. Growth of the deficient animals virtually ceased in the early stages of deficiency; food intake was severely and progressively depressed. Liver: body-weight increased markedly; packed cell volume fell at a late stage only. Pathological signs accumulated throughout the deficiency but were not closely related to the biochemical changes within the deficient group.

3. The activation coefficient (stimulated: basal activity; AC) of glutathione oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.4.2; glutathione reductase; GR) in erythrocytes rose to a mean value of 3–8 after 3 weeks, and subsequently remained almost constant: this change was not seen in pair-fed or ud lib.-fed controls. Both deficient and pair-fed animals exhibited a twofold reduction in FAD-stimulated erythrocyteGR activity at an early stage. In liver, both deficient and pair-fed groups showed a major progressive fall in FAD-stimulated GR activity, but only the deficient group showed an increase in AC, which occurred towards the later stages of the experiment. In skin, too, the deficient group showed an increase in AC during the terminal stages.

4. Hepatic, intestinal and brain succinate: (acceptor) oxidoreductase (EC 1.3.99,1; succinate dehydrogenase) activity fell relatively early during deficiency; in liver and intestine this was at least partly shared by the pair-fed group, and therefore attributable to inanition. Changes in hepatic NADH:(acceptor) oxidoreductase (EC I.6.99.3; NADH dehydrogenase) activity appeared to be entidy attributable to inanition.

5. An early reduction was observed in hepatic ATP: riboflavin 5-phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.1.26; flavo- kinase) activity in the deficient group, values falling by nearly half within 1 week, and then remaining almost constant. Similar but smaller changes were seen in renal flavokinase activity. Hepatic ATP: FMN adenylyltrans- ferase (EC 2.7.7.2; FAD pyrophosphorylase) was unchanged until the third week, at which point it rose sharply to a new plateau in the deficient group; in kidney it did not respond. These changes were not observed in pair-fed or ad-lib.-fed controls.

6. Hepatic flavin levels fell dramatically during the first 2 weeks of deficiency, FAD being conserved at the expense of FMN. Smaller changes were observed in kidney.

7. Of the processes which are affected by riboflavin deficiency, AC of erythrocyte GR (EGRAC) responds earlier, more dramatically and more specifically than most others, with the possible exception of hepatic flavin levels and flavokinase. Potentially, it is therefore a good index of over-all body riboflavin status, but in acute deficiency the rate of response of many variables is not related to the final extent of response; consequently the correlation between EGRAC and other riboflavin-sensitive processes is less satisfactory than it would be in an equilibrium situation.

1. Detailed studies of variations in breast-milk fat concentrations were performed over 12 or 24 h periods on sixty rural Gambian women feeding on demand. The creamatocrit method (Lucas et al. 1978) was used.

2. The complex pattern of within-feed and between-feed changes in fat concentration was largely explained by differences in volume per feed and time interval between feeds.

3. No consistent difference in fat production between the breasts of each individual was found despite the local custom of starting all feeds on the right breast.

4. A marked diurnal variation in the mean fat concentration per feed was noted. On average the highest values occurred in the early morning, the lowest values in the late afternoon.

5. There was significantly greater between-individual than within-individual variation in the mean fat concentration per feed over 12 h (P > 0.001).

6. A simple, rational and non-intrusive sampling procedure was devised for the estimation of whole-day mean fat levels based on the finding that the mean fat concentration of small samples of milk (0.25 ml) taken from both breasts before and after one specific feed of the day was closely correlated with 12 h and 24 h mean fat concentrations.

1. Chronic marginal riboflavin deficiency was induced in groups of weanling rats by feeding a deficient diet supplemented with 0, 0·5, 1·0 and 1·5 mg riboflavin/kg diet. Ad lib.- and pair-fed controls received 3·0 and 15 mg riboflavin/kg diet respectively.

2. Serial measurement of erythrocyte NAD(P)H2 glutathione oxidoreductase (glutathione reductase; EC 1.6.4.2) and its activation coefficient revealed that after 12 weeks a steady-state of deficiency had been reached following initial fluctuations in status; the animals were then killed, and their tissues analysed.

3. Food intake, growth rate and the appearance of pathological signs were directly proportional to riboflavin content; however relative liver weight was increased above control levels only in the most-severelydeficient group, and anaemia was not detected in any group.

4. The activation coefficient of glutathione reductase in erythrocytes and liver was closely related to dietary riboflavin content; that of skin responded maximally even in the least-severelydepleted animals.

5. Hepatic and renal flavin contents were directly proportional to dietary riboflavin, FAD being conserved at the expense of ribotlavin and FMN. ATP: riboflavin 5-phosphotransferase (flavokinase; EC 2.7.1.26) activity was reduced, even in the least-severely deficient animals; ATP: FMN adenylyltransferase (FAD pyrophosphory1ase; EC 2.7.7.2) was increased in liver, but only in the most-severely-deficient animals.

6. Hepatic succinate: (acceptor) oxidoreductase (succinate dehydrogenase; EC 1. 3.99.1) activity fell sharply between 1·5 and 0·5 mg riboflavin/kg diet, producing an S-shaped dose-response curve; it showed smaller or less specific changes in other tissues such as brain, skin and intestine. NADH: (acceptor) oxidoreductase (NADH dehydrogenase; EC 1.6.99.3) activity declined in liver and intestine, but not in skin or brain.

7. Theactivation coefficient of glutathione reductase was correlated strongly with nearly all the riboflavin-sensitive variables measured, once equilibrium had been reached in this chronic deficiency model, and it was particularly strongly correlated with hepatic and renal FAD levels. Under equilibrium conditions, therefore, it appears to represent a good index of the extent of riboflavin deficiency, and significant changes in flavin levels and enzymes in the internal organs were detected even under conditions of marginal deficiency, associated with relatively small increases in the activation coefficient.

1. It has been suggested previously that people in developed countries do not expose themselves to cold severe enough to induce a metabolic response. The energy expenditure, as both heat production and total heat loss, of nine women was therefore measured continuously while each lived for 30 h in a whole-body calorimeter on two occasions, one at 28° and the other at 22°. All subjects followed a predetermined pattern of activity and food intake. The environmental conditions were judged by the subjects to be within those encountered in everyday life. In the standard clothing worn, 28° was considered to be comfortably warm but not too hot, while 22° was judged to be cool but not too cold.

2. Heat production for 24 h was significantly greater at the lower temperature, by (mean ± SE) 7.0 ± 1.1%. The range was between 2 and 12%. Total heat loss was also significantly greater, by 6%, and there was a large change in the partition of heat loss. At the lower temperature sensible heat loss increased by 29% while evaporative heat loss decreased by 39%.

3. Resting metabolism measured in the morning 12–13 h after the last meal was significantly greater at 22° than at 28°, whereas there was no difference when the resting measurement was made for 2.5 h following a meal.

4. In conclusion: (a)environmental temperature may play a more important role than was previously recognized in the energy balance of those living in this country, and (b) there is an indication of at least a partial replacement of cold-induced by diet-induced thermogenesis in man.