Burkitt D, Morley D, Walker A
Arch Dis Child. 1980 Oct;55(10):803-7. doi: 10.1136/adc.55.10.803.
Children in developing countries pass stools that are very different from those passed by children in Europe. These stools reflect a diet of unrefined carbohydrate with low-energy density, and which due to the large volume results in an energy deficit in the child. This energy deficit is now considered to be the major cause of the almost universal undernutrition. Much of the improved health in European children during the last century has probably arisen through better nutrition due to more-refined carbohydrates and to more fat in the diet. Over the same period as children have become healthier, diseases of civilisation have appeared. One factor in such diseases is clearly that of diet, and these diseases may partly be caused by the high-energy density and the low-dietary fibre content. Changes in diet offer the greatest hope for a rapid improvement in health. In the developing world we need to find a means for making foods with a high-energy density more easily available to overcome the undernutrition in childhood. In industrialised countries older children need to become accustomed to a diet of lower-energy than at present, containing more unrefined carbohydrate and less fat.
发展中国家儿童排出的粪便与欧洲儿童的粪便有很大不同。这些粪便反映出一种低能量密度的未精制碳水化合物饮食，由于量大，导致儿童能量不足。现在认为这种能量不足是几乎普遍存在的营养不良的主要原因。上个世纪欧洲儿童健康状况的改善很大程度上可能是由于饮食中更多的精制碳水化合物和更多的脂肪带来了更好的营养。在儿童变得更健康的同一时期，文明病出现了。这些疾病的一个明显因素就是饮食，这些疾病可能部分是由高能量密度和低膳食纤维含量引起的。饮食的改变为健康的快速改善带来了最大的希望。在发展中世界，我们需要找到一种方法，使高能量密度的食物更容易获得，以克服儿童期的营养不良。在工业化国家，年龄较大的儿童需要习惯比目前能量更低的饮食，这种饮食含有更多的未精制碳水化合物和更少的脂肪。
