Including calcium-fortified water or flour in modeled diets based on local foods could improve calcium intake for women, adolescent girls, and young children in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Guatemala

• Autor(a) principal: Knight, Frances
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Ferguson, Elaine L., Rana, Ziaul H., Belizan, José, Gomes, Filomena, Bourassa, Megan W., Dickin, Katherine L., Weaver, Connie M., Cormick, Gabriela
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/157778
• topic: calcium; dietary adequacy; food-based recommendations; fortification; fortified flour; fortified water; linear programming; Neuroscience(all); Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all); History and Philosophy of Science

Adequate calcium intake is essential for health, especially for infants, children, adolescents, and women, yet is difficult to achieve with local foods in many low- and middle-income countries. Previous analysis found it was not always possible to identify food-based recommendations (FBRs) that reached the calcium population recommended intake (PRI) for these groups in Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Uganda. We have modeled the potential contribution of calcium-fortified drinking water or wheat flour to FBR sets, to fill the remaining intake gaps. Optimized diets containing fortified products, with calcium-rich local foods, achieved the calcium PRI for all target groups. Combining fortified water or flour with FBRs met dietary intake targets for adolescent girls in all geographies and allowed a reduction from 3-4 to the more feasible 1-2 FBRs. Water with a calcium concentration of 100 mg/L with FBRs was sufficient to meet calcium targets in Uganda, but higher concentrations (400-500 mg/L) were mostly required in Guatemala and Bangladesh. Combining calcium-fortified wheat flour at 400 mg/100 g of flour and the FBR for small fish resulted in diets meeting the calcium PRI in Bangladesh. Calcium-fortified water or flour could improve calcium intake for vulnerable populations, especially when combined with FBRs based on locally available foods.