(introductory text...)

Energy
Protein
Vitamins and Minerals
The Influence of Socio-economic Status in the Developing World on Nutrient Intake
General Conclusion
References

2.1. The energy and nutrient intake of the majority of lactating mothers in the developing world falls well below the RDA. There is now evidence that even the average woman from the industrialized countries also consumes less food than theoretical reasoning would indicate she should. This section reviews available data, but it must be emphasized that there is an unfortunate paucity of really accurate information. Many studies of dietary intake have been on whole families, and it is quite impossible to compute the intake of an individual from this information, especially an individual with specific physiological needs.

There has also been a diversity of techniques used: it is generally accepted that the method based on the precise weighing of the food eaten by each individual produces the most satisfactory data. This method is time-consuming, however, and it also requires an accurate knowledge of the nutrient composition of cooked dietary components to make optimum use of the data. Such information is rarely at hand in the developing world, and facilities for nutrient analysis are rare. Many investigators have had to fall back on semi-quantitative methods such as the 24-hour recall method. While this can be remarkably accurate in experienced hands, results from the recall method can also be of very dubious value. It is apparent that much more carefully controlled measurements of dietary intake are essential.