Nutrition problems of rice-eating countries in Asia / Nutrition Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- Date:
- 1948
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Nutrition problems of rice-eating countries in Asia / Nutrition Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Source: Wellcome Collection.
14/32 page 8
![In the previous section methods of conserving or in- creasing the nutritive content of rice itself have been consid- ered. The present section is concerned with the substitution of rice by other foods and the supplementation of rice diets, so as to improve the nutrition of rice-eaters. While many of the recommendations which follow will be generally applicable in most rice-producing countries in the East, the problem of im- proving rice diets must be studied in each individual country in relation to local conditions and potentialities for food pro- duction. Deficiencies of rice diets In the opinion of the Committee, insufficiency of the B group of vitamins is probably the most important fault of typical rice diets. Emphasis must also be laid on deficiency of vitamin A and calcium. While there is no clinical or physio- logical evidence that rice diets of adequate calorie value are de- ficient in protein, a greater intake of protein by the rice eater, and the inclusion in his diet of protein derived from foods other than rice in greater quantities, would be advantageous. This is unquestionably true as regards growing children. No satis- factory data are available about the quantities of fat needed by human beings. Fat intake in rice-eating countries is, how- ever, considerably lower than intake in Western countries in general, and it is well known that rice-eaters do increase their fat consumption when circumstances permit. Fat facilitates the absorption of certain vitamins and “spares” thiamine. In view of these facts an increased intake of fat is desirable. The selection of foods to improve rice diets must be based on the need for making good these deficiencies. Account must also be taken of the practical possibilities, at existing levels of economic and agricultural development, of increasing supplies of different kinds of foods. Cereals other than rice. Cereals consumed whole or nearly so have a higher content of nutrients than rice as consumed in many rice- [8]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33448164_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
