NONSTARCH POLYSACCHARIDE INTAKES IN MEXICAN VILLAGERS AND RESIDENTS OF MEXICO-CITY

A study was performed in a rural Mexican community and in Mexico City to investigate possible differences in non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) intakes. One hundred and fourteen women (fifty-five rural and fifty-n ine urban) and forty-three men (twenty-four rural and nineteen urban) completed 24 h recall questionnaires for three consecutive days with N SP intakes being estimated from a specially prepared set of new food c omposition tables. Potential underestimation of intakes was assessed b y estimating individual BMR and dividing the estimated energy intakes by BMR to give a ratio. Excluding severe underrecording (ratio < 1.01) suggested NSP intakes of 21.8 and 17.3 g/d in rural men and women and 17.7 and 15.6 g/d in urban men and women respectively, NSP sources di ffered, with a marked fall in intake from pulses in the urban areas bu t a compensatory increase of tortilla intakes and a rise in NSP-rich f ruit consumption. Both soluble- and insoluble-NSP intakes were higher in rural areas, NSP intakes scaled by probable energy intakes of moder ately active adults in developing countries suggest that NSP intakes i n Mexico are similar to adjusted values in Africa, i.e. 26.9 g/d in Me xico v. 28.5 g/d in Africa in rural men and 22.9 v. 21.0 g/d respectiv ely in rural women. The NSP:energy density ratio (g/MJ) of the rural d iet conformed with the World Health Organization (1990) goal, Data ava ilable on urban and rural communities for three countries showed that in each case the intake of NSP was lowest in the urban community.