Brenes H, Mata L
Rev Biol Trop. 1978 Dec;26(2):467-83.
Six Costa Rican communities of different ecological settings were selected for the study of food intake in children under 5 years of age. Intake was expressed as calorie and protein adequacy. Calorie deficiency was more prevalent than protein defficiency. Practically there were no differences in adequacy by age, although 4 year-olds had a slightly greater deficiency than observed in a relatively more advanced rural region 4 years earlier. Only 13 per cent of the children selected at random were covered by Social Development and Family Allowances programs which provide for two "hot meals" per day. Calorie deficiencies of children benefiting from this program were of similar magnitude as those of children not attending the food distribution centers. These observations point to the need to carry out further investigation of the actual effectiveness and drawbacks of such programs.
六个生态环境各异的哥斯达黎加社区被选来研究五岁以下儿童的食物摄入量。摄入量用卡路里和蛋白质充足率来表示。卡路里缺乏比蛋白质缺乏更为普遍。实际上，不同年龄段儿童的充足率并无差异，尽管四岁儿童的缺乏程度比四年前一个相对更发达的农村地区略高。随机挑选的儿童中只有13%参加了社会发展和家庭津贴计划，该计划提供每天两顿“热餐”。受益于该计划的儿童的卡路里缺乏程度与未参加食物配送中心的儿童相似。这些观察结果表明有必要进一步调查此类计划的实际效果和弊端。
