DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF VARIATION IN FOOD AND NUTRIENT INTAKE IN AN ANDEAN COMMUNITY

Understanding the sources of variation in a community's diet is vital for development work, as well as being a source of anthropological and cultural insights. Previous surveys in the South American Andes sugge st that nutrient deficiencies may be widespread; however such interpre tations have remained tentative since variance in Andean populations' diet has not been thoroughly examined. In this paper we consider the v ariation in diet due to variation in age, sex, and socioeconomic statu s and variation attributed to inter-and intraindividual variation in t he diet. One to six days of dietary data (mean = 3.1) were collected v ia 24 h recalls from 221 residents of a small, rural community in high land Ecuador. The contribution of various food groups to the diet vari ed with land holdings and age but not sex. For example, animal-derived foods contribute more and tubers contribute less to the diet of the h ouseholds with greater than or equal to 5 Ha, and sweets contribute mo re to the diet of children. The interindividual variation in energy an d nutrient intake was low and the intraindividual variation high relat ive to developed countries. The consequence are twofold. First, becaus e interindividual variability is low, group mean intake can be estimat ed relatively easily, facilitating group comparisons. Second, because intraindividual variation is high, individual nutrient intake cannot b e easily estimated, which will decrease the ability to detect associat ions between nutrient intake and health measures. This knowledge of th e sources of dietary variation can lead to better study and survey des igns in the rural Andes and elsewhere in the developing world. (C) 199 8 Wiley-Liss, Inc.