Center for Human Nutrition and Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 13001 E. 17th Place, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
Nutrients. 2020 Jan 18;12(1):252. doi: 10.3390/nu12010252.
Animal source foods (ASF) provide nutrients essential to child growth and development yet remain infrequently consumed in rural Nepal. Agriculture and nutrition programs aim to increase ASF intake among children through small-scale animal husbandry projects. The relationship between livestock ownership and children's consumption of ASF, however, is not well established. This study examined associations between livestock ownership and the frequency with which Nepali children consume eggs, dairy, and meat. We analyzed longitudinal 7-day food frequency data from sentinel surveillance sites of the Policy and Science of Health, Agriculture and Nutrition (PoSHAN) study. Data consisted of surveys from 485 Nepali farming households conducted twice per year for two years (a total of 1449 surveys). We used negative binomial regression analysis to examine the association between the number of cattle, poultry, and meat animals (small livestock) owned and children's weekly dairy, egg, and meat intakes, respectively, adjusting for household expenditure on each food type, mother's education level, caste/ethnicity, agroecological region, season, and child age and sex. We calculated predicted marginal values based on model estimates. Children consumed dairy 1.4 (95% CI 1.1-2.0), 2.3 (1.7-3.0) and 3.0 (2.1-4.2) more times per week in households owning 1, 2-4 and >4 cattle, respectively, compared to children in households without cattle. Children consumed eggs 2.8 (2.1-3.7) more times per week in households owning 1 or 2 chickens compared to children in households without chickens. Child intake of meat was higher only in households owning more than seven meat animals. Children's intakes of dairy, eggs, and meat rose with household expenditure on these foods. Small-scale animal production may be an effective strategy for increasing children's consumption of eggs and dairy, but not meat. Increasing household ability to access ASF via purchasing appears to be an important approach for raising children's intakes of all three food types.
动物源食品（ASF）提供儿童生长和发育所必需的营养物质，但在尼泊尔农村地区仍很少食用。农业和营养计划旨在通过小规模畜牧业项目增加儿童对 ASF 的摄入量。然而，牲畜所有权与儿童 ASF 消费之间的关系尚未得到充分确立。本研究调查了牲畜所有权与尼泊尔儿童食用鸡蛋、奶制品和肉类的频率之间的关系。我们分析了政策与健康、农业和营养（PoSHAN）研究的哨兵监测点的纵向 7 天食物频率数据。数据由两年内每年两次对 485 个尼泊尔农户进行的调查组成（共 1449 次调查）。我们使用负二项回归分析，分别检验拥有的牛、家禽和肉类动物（小型牲畜）数量与儿童每周奶制品、鸡蛋和肉类摄入量之间的关系，同时调整了每种食物的家庭支出、母亲的教育水平、种姓/族群、农业生态区、季节以及儿童年龄和性别。我们根据模型估计计算了预测边际值。与没有牛的家庭相比，拥有 1 头牛、2-4 头牛和>4 头牛的家庭的儿童每周分别多食用乳制品 1.4（95%CI 1.1-2.0）、2.3（1.7-3.0）和 3.0（2.1-4.2）次。与没有鸡的家庭相比，拥有 1 只或 2 只鸡的家庭的儿童每周多食用鸡蛋 2.8（2.1-3.7）次。只有在拥有超过 7 只肉动物的家庭中，儿童的肉类摄入量才会增加。随着家庭对这些食物的支出增加，儿童对乳制品、鸡蛋和肉类的摄入量也随之增加。小规模畜牧业可能是增加儿童鸡蛋和奶制品消费的有效策略，但不是肉类。通过购买增加家庭获得 ASF 的能力似乎是提高儿童三种食物摄入量的重要方法。
