Iftikhar Alam Khattak, Niamat Ullah.
Dietary patterns of macro and micro nutrients intake of children and mothers of the Christian community living in Peshawar.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;45(3):71-4.

Aims: To find out the dietary patterns and nutrient and energy intakes of school going children and nursing mothers from the Christian minorities of Peshawar. Methods: A total of 259 individuals (186 children mean age 7.21±1.28 yrs and 73 nursing mothers mean age 37.6 ±4.7 yrs) of 68 families were included in the study. Information regarding dietary patterns and food intakes were obtained and recorded in a pre-tested questionnaire. Nutrients were calculated using food composition tables . Percent adequacy for each nutrient was calculated dividing the total nutrient content by the value of recommended daily allowance(RDA) for that nutrient and multiplying with 100. Results: Children and mothers of the Christian communities consumed almost the same types of diets that are consumed by the general population of the country. Rice, wheat bread, meat, pulses, vegetable curry, and tea were the main constituents of the diets used by these subjects. The nutrients were calculated from actual ingredients used for dish preparation and the quantity of food consumed by the families. The % adequacy of energy, protein, Ca, Fe, vitamin A, D, C and niacin, were respectively 85.8, 68.9, 49, 5, 65.2, 44.8, 48, and 70 % of the RDA for children. While in case of nursing mothers, the % adequacy for these nutrients were 75.8, 70.4, 34.5, 56.2, 54.2, 68, 7 and 80.2 %, respectively. Conclusion: Children and nursing mothers of the Christian community suffer from malnutrition and have poor nutritional status when compared to the rest of their counterparts of the country.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com