Determinants of growth among poor children: relation of nutrient intakes to expenditure for food.

The growth status and the nutrient intakes of 123 children from 26 urban poor families in Peru were related to per capita expenditure for food. Children from six better off families were taller and heavier (p less than 0.001), with no difference in weight for height. They had significantly higher calorie and total protein intakes (as percentage of recommended) and higher intakes of animal protein, fat, calcium, carotene, riboflavin, and vitamin C. When macronutrient intakes were expressed as percentages of recommended calorie intakes, correcting for age and relative size, all of the increase in total protein intake was due to animal protein, vegetable protein remaining constant. Almost all of the increase in adequacy of total calories was due to increasing fat intakes, relatively much less to carbohydrate, and this only among the poor families. In this population, as more money becomes available to purchase food, there is an increase in animal protein and fat intakes, over an almost constant vegetable protein and carbohydrate intake. There is a simultaneous increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables, accounting for increases in the carotene and vitamin C intakes.