Nutrition studies in Thailand. II. Effects of fortification of rice with lysine, threonine, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin A, and iron on preschool children

Abstract

From January 1971 to July 1975, a study of the effects of rice fortification was conducted in 29 villages with a population of approximately 13,500 in the province of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Three types of rice fortification grains, added at the mills, were used. One contained lysine, threonine, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin A, and iron. Another contained the vitamins and iron but no amino acids. The third was a placebo. In some villages the rice was not fortified. The children of the villages when compared to middle-class Thai children were retarded in growth and development. At the conclusion of the study, approximately 2,250 children ages 1½ to 9 years had been in the program for 1 to 4 years. Biannual physical examinations and morbidity records obtained on each child every 15 days indicated that the consumption of fortified rice two-thirds or more of the time had no measurable effect on the parameters measured when compared to the population which was not fed fortified rice or consumed it 10% or less of the time. The measurements made included length, weight, hand-wrist X-rays, head, arm, and chest circumferences, triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements, hemoglobin and hematocrit determinations, and morbidity evaluations. The lack of effect of the nutrition intervention could not be attributed to a high prevalence of infectious disease. Although adequate quantities of traditional foods were available to the children it appeared probable that most of them did not meet their energy needs either because of the low caloric density or lack of palatability of their diets.