METABOLISM OF UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN

Abstract

The following investigation was undertaken for the purpose of determining the possible relationship between the nitrogen intake and the rate of growth in normal and undernourished children. Two series of experiments were therefore performed on eight normal and nine undernourished children of from 4 to 12 years of age, using in the first series a high protein, and in the second a low protein diet.¹ Nineteen experiments, of at least seven days' duration each, were performed in each series, the children being divided into three groups as follows: group 1, the vigorous normal children; group 2, children from 0.0 to 9.9 per cent underweight, and group 3, children 10 per cent or more underweight for their height and age. The same technic of feeding, collection of specimens and chemical analysis of food and excreta was observed in these experiments as has already been described in previous papers of this