The metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in children on a poor Indian diet based on maize (Zea mays).

Maize is one of the important millets
widely consumed by the poorer sections
of the population in Africa, Latin
American countries and some parts of
India3. The grain is usually ground to
flour and consumed in the form of unleavened
bread. The main nutritional
defects of maize as compared with other
cereals and millets are (i) its low niacin
content, and (ii) the deficiencies of its
proteins in tryptophan and lysine, and
the imbalance between isoleucine and
leucine2. Consequently, the incidence of
pellagra and protein malnutrition is quite
high among the maize eating population2.
SCRIMSHAW et al.12 reported that the
retention of nitrogen in children aged 3
to 4 years was quite low on a maize diet
providing about 3 gm. protein per kg.
body weight. Similar results have been
reported by HANSEN et al.4 in young
children 1 to 3 years of age. No information
is available on the metabolism of
nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in older
children on a maize diet. The metabolism
studies so far carried out in children in
India have been confined to diets containing
rice, ragi, jowar and bajra 5-8. This
paper describes the results of studies on
the metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and
phosphorus in children on a poor maize
diet.