A randomised trial was carried out to determine the effect of supplementation of fish oil among 51 children with leukaemia aged 4 to 12 years on appetite level, caloric intake, body weight and lean body mass. They were randomly allocated into the trial group (TG) and the control group (CG). At baseline, 30.8% of TG subjects and 44.0% of CG subjects were malnourished and 7.7% of subject from TG and 28.0% from CG were classified as stunted. The majority of subjects from TG and CG were in the mild malnutrition category for mid upper arm muscle circumference (MUAMC)-for-age. The TG group showed significant increment in MUAMC (0.13 cm vs -0.09 cm) compared with CG at 8 weeks (p<0.001). There was a significant higher increase for appetite level (0.12±0.33) (p<0.05) and an increasing trend on energy and protein intake in the TG group (213±554 kcal; 3.64 ±26.8 g) than in the CG group. In conclusion, supplementation of fish oil has a positive effect on appetite level, caloric intake and MUAMC among children with leukaemia.
The optimum dietary protein requirement of the Malaysian mahseer (Tor tambroides) fingerlings was determined in this study. In this completely randomized designed experiment, formulated diets of five levels of dietary protein (30, 35, 40, 45 and 50%) were tested on the T. tambroides fingerlings (initial body weight of 5.85 +/- 0.40 g), reared in aquarium fitted with a biofiltering system. The fingerlings were fed twice daily at 5% of biomass. The fingerling body weight and total length was taken at every two weeks. Mortality was recorded daily. The dietary protein had significant effects on the body weight gain and Specific Growth Rate (SGR) of the fingerlings. The body weight gain and SGR of fingerlings fed with the diet with the dietary protein level of 40% was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of 30, 35 and 50%. The feed conversion ratio of the 40% dietary protein was the significantly lowest at 2.19 +/- 0.163. The dietary protein level of 40% was the most optimum for T. tambroides fingerlings.
The objective of the study was to assess nutritional and health status as well as nutritional knowledge in urban middle-aged Malaysian women. The impact of menopause on diet and health indices was also studied. The study included 360 disease free women, non users of HRT,aged > or =45 years with an intact uterus recruited from November 1999 to October 2001. Personal characteristics, anthropometric measurements and blood sample were acquired followed by clinical examination. Nutrient intake and nutritional knowledge was determined by a quantitative FFQ and KAP. The findings showed that urban middle-aged women, aged 51.65+/-5.40 years had energy intakes (EI) 11% below RDA, consisting of 53% carbohydrates, 15% protein and a 32% fat which declined with age. The sample which comprised of 42.5% postmenopausal women had a satisfactory diet and healthy lifestyle practices. Premenopausal women consumed more dietary fat (6%) with other aspects of diet comparable to the postmenopausal women. Iron intake was deficient in premenopausal women, amounting to 56% RDA contributing to a 26% prevalence of anaemia. Overall, calcium intake reached 440 mg daily but dairy products were not the main source. The postmenopaused had a more artherogenic lipid profile with significantly higher total cholesterol (TC) and LDL-C, but more premenopausal women were overweight/obese (49% versus 35%). EI was the strongest predictor for BMI and waist circumference (WC), with WC itself an independent predictor of fasting blood sugar and TC with BMI strongly affecting glucose tolerance. High nutritional knowledge was seen in 39% whereas 20% had poor knowledge. Newspapers and magazines, followed by the subject's social circle, were the main sources of nutritional information. Nutritional knowledge was positively associated with education, household income, vitamin/ mineral supplementation and regular physical activity but inversely related to TC. In conclusion, middle-aged urban women had an adequate diet with low iron and calcium intakes. Nutritional knowledge was positively associated to healthier lifestyle practices and lower TC. A comparable nutrient intake and lifestyle between pre and postmenopausal women suggested that health changes associated with menopause was largely independent of diet.
Enteritis necroticans (EN), known as pigbel in Papua New Guinea (PNG), may be the important predisposing lesion to mid-gut volvulus, jejunal and ileal ileus and other forms of small bowel strangulation in communities where protein deprivation, poor food hygiene, epochal meat feasting and staple diets containing trypsin inhibitors co-exist. Such human habitats occur in Africa, Central and South America, western Pacific, Asian and south-east Asian cultures. Isolated outbreaks of necrotizing enteritis have been reported from Uganda, Malaysia and Indonesia but as yet no systematic epidemiological study of the prevalence of small bowel strangulations has been described in the surgical literature of 'third world' countries. Now that enteritis necroticans is preventable by vaccination, such studies should be undertaken. This paper outlines the story of pigbel and its control in PNG.
Total lipids were extracted from 22 species of Malaysian fish and the constituent fatty acids were analysed by gas chromatography. Malaysian fish generally contained high levels of saturated fatty acids (range 36-55% total fatty acids) and contained variable amounts of monounsaturates, chiefly palmitic and stearic acids, but only trace levels of 20:1 and 22:1. Unlike fish caught in colder northern hemisphere waters, Malaysian fish were found to contain arachidonic acid (20:4 omega 6, range 2-12%) in addition to the expected eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 omega 3, range 1-13%) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 omega 3, range 6.6-40.4%).