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OJHAS Vol. 9, Issue 4:
(Oct-Dec, 2010) |
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| Health Scenario
of Major Tribals of Northern Orissa in Relation to Human Growth, Development
and Nutrition and the Role of Genetic Factors in
Smell and Tasting Abilities in Children |
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Balgir RS,
Division of Human Genetics,
Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research,
Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. |
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Address For Correspondence |
Scientist-F/Deputy Director (Senior
Grade)
Head, Department
of Biochemistry,
Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals, (ICMR),
Near NSCB Medical College & Hospital,
Nagpur Road, Jabalpur-482 003,
Madhya Pradesh, Central India.
E-mail:
balgirrs@yahoo.co.in |
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Balgir RS. Health Scenario
of Major Tribals of Northern Orissa in Relation to Human Growth, Development
and Nutrition and the Role of Genetic Factors in
Smell and Tasting Abilities in Children. Online J Health Allied Scs.
2010;9(4):2 |
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Submitted: Sep 30,
2010; Accepted: Oct 13, 2010; Published: Jan 20, 2011 |
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| Abstract: |
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The nature of physical growth and development of children depends primarily
upon the genetic endowments, nutritional status, psychosocial attitude
and surrounding physical environmental conditions. School going children
are the most important segment of the society who are affected by under-
and mal-nutrition. Good nutrition is an indispensable component of healthy
life. Tribal children studying in Ashram schools can be taken as representatives
of the predominant tribes of the area. This study was aimed at evaluating
the health profile in relation to growth, development and nutrition
of a randomly selected cross section of 1038 Ashram school children
aged six through 15 years in the state of Orissa. Following the standard
methodology, it was noticed that nutritional complications are compounded
due to ignorance, bad food habits, food fads, and poverty. About 71%
of the Ashram school children showed mild to moderate anemia. According
to different grades of malnutrition, the frequency of grade III malnutrition
was very low in Ashram-school boys (1.4%) and girls (3.5%), with an
average of 2.3%. The grade I as well as grade II malnutrition was also
higher in girls (grade II =24.3%; grade I= 37.6%) as compared to boys
(grade II=16.7%; grade I=31.5%) with an average of 19.9% and 34.1%,
respectively for grade II and grade I malnutrition. There was a consistent
pattern of increase in height and weight in the year six through fifteen
of age, showing that height and weight of the Ashram school children
increases with the corresponding advancement of age in both boys and
girls. In general, the girls were shorter and lighter in weight than
the boys. This pattern is consistent in the present study of Ashram
school children in Orissa. It has been observed that apart from the
genetic potential, the intra-uterine environment, mother’s nutritional
status before, during and post pregnancy, and neonatal nutrition and
associated traditional behavior drastically influence the growth and
development of individuals. Adequate physical and mental fitness of
parents is a marker for physical and mental fitness of the progeny.
Heritable genetic factors are responsible for the ability to detect
and identify smell and taste of food items of liking and disliking and
for the fussy behavior toward different foods in children.
Key Words:
Health Profile; Antenatal Growth and Development; Behavioral Genetics; Nutrition; Smell and Tasting Abilities; Tribal children; Northern Orissa
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The
nature of physical growth and development of children depends primarily
upon the genetic endowments, nutritional status, psychosocial attributes
and surrounding physical environmental conditions.(1,2) Good nutrition
is an indispensable component of healthy life. It is a determinant of
healthy growth of mind and body. It plays a vital role in the physical,
mental and emotional development of a child.(3) School going children
are the most important segment of the society who are affected by under-
and mal-nutrition. Complications are compounded due to ignorance, food
fads, bad food habits, and poverty of the parents.(4) The nutritional
status of the young children varies from region to region in India due
to differences in dietary habits, socio-cultural attributes, unbalanced
intake of food, irrational practices, economy, disease burden, and accessibility
to hygienic food, sanitary conditions of living, etc. Consumption of
unbalanced food leads to nutritional deficiencies.(4) The prevalence of anemia
is mostly attributed to iron, folic acid and other nutritional
deficiencies, and is more common among the under privileged
communities of India.(1)
This
study was aimed at to evolve growth norms for Ashram school children
and evaluate the health profile in relation to human growth, development
and nutrition of a randomly selected cross-section of 1038 Ashram school
children aged six through 15 years in the state of Orissa.
Out of
a list of 62 endogamous scheduled tribes (aborigines) in the state of
Orissa, a cross-section of ten major tribes each comprising more than
one lakh population as per 2001 census, were studied. These major
scheduled tribes included were: Bathudi, Bhumiz, Kolha, and Santhal from
Mayurbhanj district, and Bhuyan, Gond, Kharia, Kissan, Munda and Oraon
from Sundargarh district in Northern part of Orissa.
The highest
concentration districts were first identified for each tribe and then the Ashram
schools were listed in that locality, of which 4-5 schools were selected at
random, representing different geographical locations in each district. The
Ashram schools in the state of Orissa represented about 90% of the total
strength of the local tribal population and about 10% of the scheduled castes.
Ashram schools are residential type state government funded schools in which
apart from imparting the formal education, children are being encouraged to do
kitchen gardening in the school premises. They are consuming the vegetable and
fruit products of these gardens while staying in the boarding in addition to
outside state government supplied foods. All the children were being fed from
the same kitchen.
For the present
study, a cross section of Ashram school students aged 6 through 15 years were
taken to evaluate the health and nutritional status. Thirteen Ashram schools,
seven from Sundargarh (575 children) and six from Mayurbhanj (465 children)
districts in Northern Orissa (Fig.-I) were selected at random representing
different geographically scattered locations. They belonged to Bathudi, Bhumiz,
Bhuyan, Gond, Kharia, Kissan, Kolha, Munda, Oraon and Santhal tribes.
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Fig 1: Map of Orissa
showing 30 Districts |
A
total of 1038 children were measured for height (in centimeters) using
the anthropometric rod from two districts of the state. The weight (in
kg.) was also taken using weighing machine attached with the anthropometer. It
was also ensured to take measurements only from unrelated individuals belonging
to either sex.
Intravenous
blood samples were collected from each student (2-3 ml) under aseptic
conditions in disodium salt of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA)
coated vials in the presence of a medical doctor after taking informed
consent from each individual and transported under ice-cold conditions
to the laboratory at Bhubaneswar within 24 hours of the collection. Laboratory
investigations were carried out for screening of hemoglobinopathies,
following the standard procedures (5, 6) after cross checking for quality
control from time to time. Hematological parameters were studied by
using an automated Blood Cell Counter (Model- MS4, Melet Schloesing
Laboratories, France). Grading of anemia was done as per the WHO guidelines.(7)
About
71% of the Ashram school children showed the mild to moderate anemia
(Table-1). This anemia may be due to iron and folic acid deficiency,
malarial infection, parasitic infestation, and hereditary hemolytic
anemia because of co-inheritance of beta-thalassemia syndrome, the sickle
cell disease or the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) enzyme
deficiency.(6,8)
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Table 1: Different grades of
Anemia in Ashram (Tribal) School Children (sexes
combined) of Orissa.
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Grades
of Anemia (Hemoglobin Level) |
No. |
% |
| Normal
(>12.0 g/dl) |
297 |
28.7 |
| Mild
(10.1-12.0 g/dl) |
616 |
59.3 |
| Moderate
(7.1-10.0 g/dl) |
121 |
11.6 |
| Severe
(<7.0 g/dl) |
4 |
0.4 |
| Total
Tested |
1038 |
100.0 |
According to
Gomez’s classification (9) of different grades of the malnutrition, the
frequency of grade III malnutrition was very low among Ashram-school- boys
(1.4%) and girls (3.5%), with an average of 2.3%. The grade II as well as grade
I malnutrition was also higher in girls (grade II =24.3%; grade I= 37.6%) as
compared to boys (grade II=16.7%; grade I=31.5%), with an average of 19.9% and
34.1%, respectively for grade II and grade I malnutrition (Table-2).
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Table 2: Different grades of
Malnutrition in Ashram (Tribal) School Children of Orissa |
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Grades
of Malnutrion (Gomez Classification) |
Boys
(No.,%) |
Girls
(No.,%) |
Total
(No.,%) |
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Normal:
>90% |
251 |
50.4 |
127 |
34.6 |
378 |
43.7 |
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Grade I:
75-89% |
157 |
31.5 |
138 |
37.6 |
295 |
34.1 |
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Grade II:
60-74% |
83 |
16.7 |
89 |
24.3 |
172 |
19.9 |
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Grade III:
<60% |
7 |
1.4 |
13 |
3.5 |
20 |
2.3 |
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Total
Tested |
498 |
100.0 |
367 |
100.0 |
865 |
100.0 |
There
was a consistent pattern of increase in height and weight in the year
six through fifteen (pediatric age group) of age, showing that height
and weight of the Ashram school children increased with the corresponding
advancement of age in both the boys and girls (Tables 3 and 4). In general,
the girls are shorter and lighter in weight than the boys. This pattern
is consistent in the present study for the Ashram school children in
Orissa (Tables 3 and 4).
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Table 3: Comparison of Mean
Height and Weight of Boys in different ages of
Ashram School (Tribal) Children with other Standardized Averages.
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Age in Years |
Ashram School Children Mean/SD |
ICMR, Orissa (Urban) Mean/SD |
ICMR (Average, India) Mean/SD |
NCHS* Mean |
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Height
(in cm): |
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6 |
119.5+10.6
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113.1+06.8
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108.5+07.2
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119.0 |
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7 |
127.7+11.6
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118.2+07.6
|
113.9+08.7
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124.4 |
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8 |
128.5+07.7
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124.6+07.5 |
119.3+07.3
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129.6 |
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9 |
132.5+07.9
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128.3+07.3 |
123.7+09.3
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134.8 |
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10 |
136.9+10.6
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131.8+09.1 |
128.4+10.0
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140.3 |
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11 |
141.8+09.9
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138.6+09.9
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133.4+09.7
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146.4 |
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12 |
144.1+09.1
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144.2+09.2 |
138.3+10.1
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153.0 |
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13 |
148.7+09.1
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148.7+09.1
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144.6+09.8 |
159.9 |
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14 |
152.5+06.3
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153.1+10.9 |
150.1+10.0 |
166.2 |
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15 |
158.1+06.3
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159.2+07.9
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155.5+10.0 |
171.5 |
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Weight
(in Kg): |
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6 |
20.1+04.3
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18.1+02.6 |
16.3+02.7 |
21.7 |
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7 |
23.7+05.5 |
19.8+03.1 |
18.0+03.0 |
24.0 |
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8 |
24.1+04.0 |
22.1+03.9 |
19.7+03.4 |
26.7 |
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9 |
26.5+05.2 |
23.7+03.8 |
21.5+04.5 |
29.7 |
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10 |
28.4+06.6
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25.3+04.5 |
23.5+05.3 |
33.3 |
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11 |
31.9+06.6
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28.8+05.8 |
25.9+06.3 |
37.5 |
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12 |
33.8+05.8
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31.9+06.2 |
28.5+06.1 |
42.3 |
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13 |
37.2+06.3 |
35.6+06.7 |
32.1+06.8 |
47.8 |
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14 |
41.8+04.4 |
38.6+07.7 |
35.7+07.6 |
53.8 |
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15 |
45.1+05.5 |
43.0+06.8 |
39.6+08.6 |
59.5 |
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*from Reference
No. 11 |
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Table 4: Comparison of Mean
Height and Weight of Girls in different ages of
Ashram School (Tribal) Children with other Standardized Averages.
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Age in Years |
Ashram School Children Mean/SD |
ICMR, Orissa (Urban) Mean/SD |
ICMR (Average, India) Mean/SD |
NCHS* Mean |
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Height
(in cm): |
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6 |
114.2+07.6
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113.3+06.3 |
107.4+08.7
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117.6 |
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7 |
120.2+06.9
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117.3+06.9 |
112.8+08.5 |
123.5 |
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8 |
126.9+05.9
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123.0+07.4 |
118.2+07.7
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129.3 |
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9 |
131.4+06.8
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126.9+06.7 |
122.9+07.5
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135.2 |
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10 |
135.5+06.9
|
132.5+07.9 |
128.4+08.0 |
141.5 |
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11 |
137.9+07.3
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139.0+08.1
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133.6+09.5
|
148.2 |
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12 |
143.7+06.7
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143.5+07.8
|
139.2+10.2
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154.6 |
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13 |
145.5+06.5
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147.8+06.4
|
143.9+09.2
|
159.0 |
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14 |
146.5+05.9
|
149.6+05.6 |
147.5+09.7
|
161.2 |
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15 |
149.6+08.5
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151.3+05.2
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149.6+08.3
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162.1 |
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Weight
(in Kg): |
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6 |
17.7+02.9
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17.4+02.3 |
16.0+02.7
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20.6 |
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7 |
19.8+03.5
|
19.9+03.1 |
17.6+02.9
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23.3 |
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8
|
22.9+03.2
|
21.4+03.2 |
19.4+03.3 |
26.6 |
|
9 |
24.7+05.0
|
23.0+03.6 |
21.3+03.7
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30.5 |
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10 |
26.1+04.4
|
26.2+04.9 |
23.6+05.7 |
34.7 |
|
11 |
29.1+05.4
|
29.8+06.0 |
26.4+05.5
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39.2 |
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12 |
35.2+05.9
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33.5+06.0 |
29.8+06.6 |
43.8 |
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13 |
36.9+04.8
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38.1+06.5 |
33.3+07.3
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48.3 |
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14 |
38.4+04.4
|
39.3+06.2 |
36.8+07.2
|
52.1 |
|
15 |
39.1+06.4
|
42.0+05.4 |
38.8+07.1 |
55.0 |
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*from Reference No. 11 |
The
nutritional status of young children varies from region to region in
India due to differences in dietary habits, socio-cultural attributes,
unbalanced intake, irrational practices, economy, disease burden, and
accessibility to hygienic food, sanitary conditions, etc. Consumption
of unbalanced food leads to nutritional deficiencies.
There
was a consistent pattern of increase in height and weight in the year
six through fifteen of age among the Ashram school children of Orissa
as expected showing increased height and weight with the corresponding
advancement of age in both the boys and girls. In general, the girls
are genetically endowed with shorter and lighter in weight than the
boys. This pattern was consistent in the present study for the Ashram
school children in Orissa.
Taking
into consideration the physical growth and development among the Ashram
school children, it was observed that both boys and girls represented
the better health and nutritional status in height (being taller in
almost all the age categories) than the respective Indian average (of
ICMR) and average for the corresponding age categories (10,11) of the
state of Orissa (Fig.-2). However, the Ashram school children showed
lower values in almost all the age categories than the National Center
for Health Statistics (NCHS) standards (Tables 3 and 4).
One of the
important objectives of the study was to evolve growth norms for Ashram school
children. From physiological point of view, the normal growth from inception,
its maintenance, and termination, depends upon an orderly sequence of
constitutional genetic, endocrine, nutritional, and environmental influences.
Comparison with Indian average standards (10, 11) may have inherent drawbacks
that these children belong to different ethnic stocks and live under different
environmental conditions; hence they are not comparable. Therefore, the need for
developing a local standard was obviously desired.
Any
affliction of communicable, noncommunicable, and genetic abnormality
enhances the apoptosis and retardation, and adversely affects the growth
and development of individuals. Apoptosis is a cell death process, which
occurs during development and aging. Cytotoxic substances that lead to
deprivation of survival factors also induce it. Healthy conditions are utmost
beneficial and favorable to achieve the target goals for growth and development.
In
view of the under- and mal-nutrition still persisting among the Ashram
school children, it was observed that the balanced diet was not served
to these children and as a result of this, various nutritional deficiencies
occurred. These nutritional deficiencies have been recorded and presented
elsewhere.(4,12) It was, therefore, suggested that a short-term training should
be imparted to the boarding teachers regarding the balanced diet or at least
essential nutrient constituents of the food as per the requirements of the
children. Simple rice and cereal feeding (of low quality) to the children does
not serve the purpose except avoiding the hunger-stricken conditions. For this
purpose, the physical instructor available in the school would the most suitable
person to get this nutritional training and should be involved in the management
of catering the balanced food to the children.
Regular
health check ups of the children are a must for the better prospective
health care of the boarders, who stay far away from their parents. The
headmaster of the school should be empowered to call the local primary
health center (PHC) doctor or District Medical (School Health) doctor
for medical check up as and when deem necessary. Sincere efforts and
cooperation of the District Health Authority such as Chief District
Medical Officer, District Welfare Officer and the headmaster of the
school will help coordination for better health care of the future generation
builders of the nation.
Human Antenatal
Development
Apart
from the genetic potential, the intra-uterine environment, mother’s
nutritional status before, during and post pregnancy, and neonatal nutrition
and associated traditional behavior drastically influence the realization
of this potential of an individual in the course of life. In fact, an
individual is a product of all those circumstances, which determine,
later on, the potential and course of life. Adverse conditions affect
the outcome adversely and favorable environment enhances the healthy
growth and development of fetus. Adequate mental and physical fitness
of parents is a marker for physical and mental fitness of the progeny.
A growing body
of evidence suggests that the health in later life of an individual is not
simply a matter of genes and lifestyle, but is also intimately linked to what
happened in mother’s womb.(13) Numerous studies around the world confirm that
the first nine months of intrauterine life may be the most important period.
Retarded growth in the womb is strongly linked with an increased risk of various
killer diseases, including the heart disease, diabetes-II and stroke. Those
children who are thin at birth with small placenta have higher death rates of
coronary heart disease than the others.(13)
Babies,
deprived of nutrients in the last months of pregnancy, for instance,
tend to have larger heads and shorter bodies with smaller abdomens,
and are more at risk of heart disease.(13) Those individuals experiencing
earlier a shortage in their fetal life, on the other hand, are often
proportionately smaller with larger placenta, and are more prone to
strokes; those affected during the middle months, are commonly thin
at birth and likely to suffer from diabetes (13). High blood pressure
is associated with retarded growth and development at any stage of pregnancy.(13) What is clear is that the babies who grow least in the uterus
are, subsequently, at higher risk of these diseases in later life.
Why and what
actually happens? When resources are in short supply, the fetus adapts by
protecting the essentials, such as the brain or the growth of the placenta, at
the expense of other parts of the body.(13) This can reduce the number of cells
or produce other physiological alterations in various organs and body parts,
i.e. these changes, we may not be able to reverse them later in life. If you
have a baby who is growing fairly well in the uterus until the last part of
gestation, for instance, it makes a number of adaptations directed towards
maintaining growth of the brain at the expense of the rest.(13) Hence, we get
the larger head in proportion to the rest of the body. It depends not so much on
what mothers eat when they are pregnant, but what mother has stored before the
pregnancy and how well the placenta is formed.(13)
Children
born to mothers suffering from beta-thalassemia or sickle cell disease have
larger size of the placenta. This is because of the fact that the red blood
cells of such mothers have very low capacity to carry oxygen to the target
tissues, because of the inherited abnormality in red cells and the reduced
number of red cells in circulation (anemia). In order to fulfill the requirement
or demand of sufficient amount of oxygen for the body from the placenta, the
size of the placenta is enlarged. Thus, the placental weight is largely
dependant upon the conditions of the mother and child. Abnormal children have
abnormally high weight of placenta and normal children have adequate weight of
placenta in the above-mentioned afflicted mothers. Thus, human nutrition does
not matter much in adult life, but what happened in mother’s womb, matters the
most!
Similarly,
a greater similarity in behavior or trait between identical than between
fraternal twins indicates that the behavior or trait is likely to be
heritable and consumer preferences have a genetic basis. Twin study
showed that a wide range of consumer judgment and decision-making phenomenon
is in fact heritable or influenced by genetic factors. Your craving/lurking
for chocolate and inclination towards hybrid cars is in your genes.
Likings for specific products seem to be genetically related: chocolate,
mustard, hybrid cars, science fiction movies, jazz, etc. The current
research suggests that heritable and other hard-wired inherent preference
components play a key role in behavior and deserve much more attention
in marketing and decision making research.
Human fads for
Taste and Smell also Matter The Most!
We often abuse,
slap or threaten our children for not taking (eating) particular kind of food
prepared in our kitchens or brought from the market. Mothers are also blamed for
spoiling the habits of the child. Is a child’s socialization at fault? Is the
mother really a culprit? Is the child psychologically abnormal? Certainly, the
child is not abnormal. These are some of the questions of ignorant parents,
which are addressed scientifically and logically in this section.
In
any community or population group, there are people who do not worry
about any aspect of food; on the other hand, there are people who are
seen as allergic, choosy or fussy to certain kind of food.(14) They
notice stale foods, strong flavours and even the difference between
different brands of flavored foods. Food sensitive people are particularly
sensitive to small changes of flavour and smell in food. Thus, the idea
is that food sensitive people are most sensitive to flavor. Attempts
were made to change the flavors and smells by artificial colors, flavors,
some preservatives and salicylates. Smells such as of paint and petrol
are also implicated. Some children are often very fussy about taste,
texture and temperature; children would often reject over-ripe bananas,
mango, milk or cheese if it tasted mouldy to them.(14) It was learnt that mild
flavored, good quality fruits are better tolerated. Food sensitive children seem
to either love or hate certain smells. One child would be excited by the smell
of petrol, while another would be nauseous.
Clinically,
disliked smells are so described, as they are usually known to produce
adverse symptoms. How they feel when they have to cope with high doses
of perfumes. A perfume that produces migraine in one individual, on
the other hand, may be liked by another. Individual variation of tolerance
in the population does need to be recognized.(14) Meanwhile, the suspect
substances that broaden the chemical content of foods include all
additive colors, flavors, most preservatives, salicylates, natural and
added monosodium glutamate, and various amines in addition to chocolate.
Additive colors and flavors cause the most reactions; and chocolate
and tomato sauce are reported to cause reactions in over 80%.(14) Paint and
petrol smells are reported a problem in nearly as many. Thus, the concept of
total body load is developed which is a combination of all the factors that seem
to aggravate the underlying symptoms. These factors include the natural and
additive food chemicals, smells, stress, contact dyes, infections, allergy foods
and inhalants. There is individual variation in the importance of the various
factors, and liked suspect foods and smells are better tolerated than disliked
ones.(14)
It
is realized that one common factor or culprit for these excluded foods
is flavor, additive flavor, tangy fruit, herbs, spices, teas, peppermints,
chocolate, aged and matured foods, and flavor enhancers.(14) It includes
benzoate and aromatic preservatives, high amine smell in ripe bananas,
the mouldy smells in foods, and smells and perfumes in the environment.
It
is fascinating that people who are food sensitive, are sensitive in
that it (food) can cause adverse reactions in their body, but also sensitive
in so far as they are discerning or discriminating, often seen by others
as fussy.(14) It is as if, those who are more sensitive or fussy should be that
way, to minimize adverse reactions.
As
we all are aware of and do testing for phenyl-thiocarbamide (PTC) or
urea in anthropology for tasting ability of individuals for estimating
ethnic variability because of the fact that there are people who are
called supertasters (TT) or homozygous for tasting ability. They are
highly sensitive to certain tastes, especially bitter and hot, spicy
foods. And specifically, to the taste of PTC, which to a supertaster
(TT) tastes bitter, mild to a taster (Tt) or heterozygous for tasting
ability and without taste at all to a non-taster (tt) or homozygous
for nontasting ability. The ability to be a supertaster is inherited
as an autosomal dominant manner. Sweet taste is also enhanced. Anatomically,
supertasters (TT) have more nerve endings in their tongues. Interestingly,
they (TT) also have more pain and touch nerve endings there. They (TT)
notice pepper, alcohol and fizzy drinks more, and are better, at perceiving
fat in food.
Research
investigations have revealed the role of smell in those living near
livestock farms. It is reported that disliked smells impair mood, that
people are more depressed, more anxious when they smell unpleasant odors.
However, the persons working in leather or shoe industry, for example,
become immune to foul smell and their sensitivity reduces with the passage
of time. On the other hand, the use of garland with flowers of fragrance
in places of worship and smear of sandalwood or “chandan” on the
forehead in India serve the same purpose for amelioration of mood. Aggressive
behaviour may be culminated from reactive foods or odors in these hypersensitive
individuals. In other words, the mood disorders sometimes, are reactions in some
individuals to fussy surrounding or environment.(14) This is particularly
interesting as the most commonly improved symptoms on a low flavor (low additive
and low natural chemicals) diets are mood. Diet has direct bearing on the mood
or behavior of an individual.(14)
The
food sensitive people are supertasters (TT), and that they form a new
sub-group who are also supersmellers (SS). They (SS) often describe
foods as strong, and often throw out food that smells stale to them.
They (SS) often comment on how hot spices are, or how sickly sweet some
foods are. They (SS) are also often very aware of smells, such as of
paint or petrol, and strong perfumes. Many food sensitive children
are fussy about foods, noticing the smell, taste or feel of the food.
The amount of amines in food is important which causes migraine, tummy
aches and irritable bowel syndrome in food sensitive people. Clinical
findings of research reinforce that food sensitive people should be
very wary of any food they think is of poor quality, smells strong or
stale to them at the particular time they are assessing it.(14) In doing this,
they also incorporate the idea of how robust or fragile they feel, depending on
the total body load of factors they react to.
It is possible
that the mechanism of food sensitivity for the suspect aromatic compounds is the
slower or abnormal metabolism that sensitive individuals have. This would
explain why food-sensitive people are reported to have bad breath and high body
odor, which is alleviated by diet therapy using what, in fact, is a low aroma
diet.
In
those individuals with a constitution of iron (strong willed people),
there are no food rules; in normal and gourmet people, the rule is:
smell your food; it is a guide to likes and dislikes, and therefore,
enjoyment of food. In supersensitive people, the rule becomes: smell
your food; it might be making you ill. You can try to avoid the problem
by using your nose.
Author is grateful to Dr. V.M. Katoch, Secretary, Department of Health Research,
Government of India and Director General, Indian Council of Medical
Research, New Delhi for providing the necessary facilities and to Headmasters
and Teachers of Ashram Schools, and students of Orissa for their cooperation
during growth and nutrition study.
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