A Survey of Nutrition and Blood Contents of Rural Women in Korea

일부 농촌지역 부인의 영양실태 및 혈액성상에 관한 연구

The nutritional survey and blood sampling was conducted from May 23 to 27, 1971, in order to investigate the state of the nutritional intake in relation to blood contents of rural women. This survey covered a total of 47 women residing in Youngam-gun, Cholla-namdo, Korea. The daily diet of these subjects was observed by 24-hour recall method and weighing method for 3 days and hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit(Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), serum protein, serum albumin, A/G ratio, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TS), serum cholesterol and blood specific gravity (SG) were measured. The results were summarized as follows ; The rate of intake of vegetable foods was high, especially cereals, and that of animal foods was low, especially eggs and milk and milk products. The daily intake of niacin was sufficient, and the intakes of energy and iron were also tend to be adequate. On the contrary, the intakes of vitamin A, $B_2$ and C, calcium and protein were insufficient. The mean red blood cell number was $410.8{\pm}26.4{\times}10^{4}/mm^{3},$ the mean values of Hb, Hct and MCHC were $12.5{\pm}0.9gm%$, $37.5{\pm}2.4%$ and $33.2{\pm}0.5%$ thus the anemic prevalences were 21.3%, 12.8% and 93.6% comparing with the anemic criteria of WHO. The levels of serum protein and serum albumin were $7.1{\pm}0.4gm\;%$ and $4.3{\pm}0.3gm\;%$so the A/G ratio was indicated $1.6{\pm}0.2.$. The levels of serum iron and TIBC were $91.9{\pm}27.5{\mu}g/100ml and $297.5{\pm}31.4{\mu}g/100ml,$ so TS was calculated $31.2{\pm}9.7\;%$. The mean value of SG was $1.044{\pm}0.002,$ and the level of serum cholesterol was $164.3{\pm}25.4mg/dl$. In the relation between each of bloood content, Hb showed positive correlation not only with Hct but also protein at the level of significance of 1 per cent and 5 per cent, and protein also showed a positive correlation with serum cholesterol at the 1 per cent level of significance. In the relation between the nutrient intake and blood contents, vitamin C intake showed a positive correlation with Hb, serum protein and serum iron at the level of significance of 1 per cent, iron intake also showed a positive correlation with serum iron and serum cholesterol at the same significant level, and protein intake showed a positive correlation with serum iron at the at the level of significance of 5 per cent.