Diet and kwashiorkor: a prospective study from rural DR Congo.

ABSTRACT: The etiology of kwashiorkor remains enigmatic and longitudinal studies examining potential causes of kwashiorkor are scarce. Using historical, longitudinal study data from the rural area of Bwamanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, we investigated the potential causal association between diet and the development of kwashiorkor in 5 657 preschool children followed 3-monthly during 15 months. We compared dietary risk factors for kwashiorkor with those of marasmus. Kwashiorkor was diagnosed as pitting oedema of the ankles; marasmus as abnormal visibility of skeletal structures and palpable wasting of the gluteus muscle. A 24-h recall was administered 3-monthly to record the consumption of the 41 locally most frequent food items. We specified Hanley-Miettinen smooth-in-time risk models containin

SUBMITTER: Kismul H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3994641 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature