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Nutritional Supplementation during the Preschool Years and Physical Work Capacity in Adolescent and Young Adult Guatemalans^1,2,

Jere D. Haas^*,3, Elkin J. Martinez, Scott Murdoch^*, Elizabeth Conlisk^*, Juan A. Rivera and Reynaldo Martorell

^* Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853-6301 Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia Centro de Investigaciones en Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, 62508 Cuernavaca, Morelos, México Department of International Health, The Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322

A follow-up study (1988–89) was carried out in 364 rural Guatemalans, 11–27 y of age, who earlier had participated in a nutritional supplementation experiment. Among its objectives was the assessment of the long-term effects of the nutrition intervention on physical work capacity. Subjects and their mothers from two villages had available a high-energy, high-protein supplement (Atole: 163 kcal/682 kJ and 6.4 g protein per serving or 180 mL), whereas in two other villages a low-energy, no-protein supplement (Fresco: 59 kcal/247 kJ per 180 mL) was provided. Consumption was ad libitum. Maximum oxygen consumption (O₂max) at follow-up was significantly greater in Atole compared with Fresco subjects of both sexes. In subjects 14–19 y, exposed to supplementation throughout gestation and the first 3 y of life, Atole males had a significantly higher O₂max (2.62 L/min) than Fresco males (2.24 L/min), the differences remaining significant even after controlling for body weight and fat-free mass; also, there was a significant positive relationship between amount of supplement consumed and O₂max. The supplementation effect in females of similar age was not statistically significant. It is concluded that early nutritional improvements can have long-lasting effects on physical performance.

KEY WORDS: • malnutrition • growth • work capacity • adolescence • young adult

¹ Presented in the symposium on Nutrition in Early Childhood and its Long-term Functional Significance, FASEB, April 6, 1992, Anaheim, CA. Published as a supplement to The Journal of Nutrition. Guest editors for this supplement publication were Reynaldo Martorell, The Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA and Nevin Scrimshaw, The United Nations University, Boston, MA.

² Supported by NIH grant numbers RO1-HD22440 and T32-HD07331.

³ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Division of Nutritional Sciences, 211 Savage Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6301.