The metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus in undernourshed children. 3. The effect of a supplementary multipurpose food on the metabolism of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus.

In a previous publication from this laboratory, Murthy, Reddy, Swaminathan &
Subrahmanyan (1955) reported that undernourished children subsisting on an inadequate
and ill-balanced vegetarian diet grew at a subnormal rate, but showed a remarkable
adaptation to low levels of intake, maintaining on average slightly positive
nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus balances. In further investigations, Subrahmanyan,
Reddy, Moorjani, Sur, Doraiswamy, Sankaran, Bhatia & Swaminathan (1954) and
Sur, Reddy, Swaminathan & Subrahmanyan (1955) found that supplementation of
the diet of such undernourished children with 12 oz. daily of groundnut milk curds,
significantly increased growth and nutritional status and also the retention of N, Ca,
and P. Subrahmanyan, Joseph, Doraiswamy, Narayanarao, Sankaran & Swaminathan
(1957) reported that a supplement of 2 02. daily of a multipurpose food (MPF) (composed
of groundnut flour and Bengal-gram flour and fortified with certain vitamins and
calcium phosphate) for a period of 5 months produced a marked improvement in the
growth and nutritional status of such children. This paper deals with studies on the
effect of the multipurpose-food supplement on the metabolism of N, Ca and P.