Protein-Energy Requirements of Developing Countries: Evaluation of New Data (UNU, 1981, 268 p.): Nitrogen absorption-adults: Absorptive capacity of adult Guatemalan rural males living under different conditions of sanitation: Objectives

Protein-Energy Requirements of Developing Countries: Evaluation of New Data (UNU, 1981, 268 p.)

Nitrogen absorption-adults

Absorptive capacity of adult Guatemalan rural males living under different conditions of sanitation

		(introduction...)
		Objectives
		Experimental details
		Summary of main results
		Conclusions

Objectives

1. To determine the apparent absorption of total energy, protein, and fat from the customary rural diet in: (a) military conscript males (soldiers) who were born and had lived all their life in rural Guatemala except for the two years before being studied, during which they lived in military installations with better sanitary conditions than those prevailing in their rural homes; and (b) men living in two rural communities.

2. To evaluate the effect of sanitation measures, such as the introduction of an intra-domiciliary water supply system and a sanitary education programme, on the absorptive capacity of men from one of the rural communities studied.

Hypothesis
Environmental sanitary conditions influence the capacity of Guatemalan adults to absorb the major food nutrients present in their habitual diet. if this is true, the soldiers should absorb the nutrients better than men living in their rural homes.

Furthermore, the absorptive capacity of the rural men in the community where sanitary measures were introduced should also improve.