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Malnutrition and Human Function: A Comparison of Conclusions from the INCAP and Nutrition CRSP Studies^1,2,

Department of Nutrition, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616

The overall objective of both the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) studies and the Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) was to determine if marginal malnutrition affects human function. The conclusions from the two studies were consistent, notably that growth stunting occurs early in life and is accompanied by functional impairments. These consequences of early malnutrition persist later in life. The comparison of INCAP and Nutrition CRSP results also illustrates that the Guatemalan children were more malnourished and stunted than those in Kenya, Mexico or Egypt and that this greater degree of stunting occurs before 18 months of age. Even the Atole did not bring the average size of supplemented children in Guatemala up to those of the unsupplemented children in the CRSP populations. It is also likely that their functional potential was not realized fully by supplementation. The CRSP studies provide evidence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies associated with poor growth and function and it is probable that these associations exist in Guatemala as well. The overall conclusion is that our attention should be directed to determining the adequacy of micronutrient status in the perinatal period and to the development of approaches that prevent early growth failure.

KEY WORDS: • malnutrition • function • energy • growth • micronutrients • human

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 The Nutrition CRSP was supported by USAID grants no. DAN-1309-G-SS-1070-00 and DAN-1309-A-00-9090-00.

³ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Meyer Hall, Room 3135, Davis, CA 95616.

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