A scorbutic diet in a nile cataract community

Abstract

1. (1) A Nile community living in an arid area, and its restricted food economy, are described. It was reputed to be malnourished. 2. (2) The daily food intake was assessed by weighing an estimated day's food for each of eight families and averaging the man-day values for seven of them which appeared to be characteristic of the village. 3. (3) The diet was considered to be deficient in ascorbin, as the only foods contributing this were probably cooked for over an hour from the cold state and with an alkaline cooking soda. 4. (4) The villagers were lean, and in every mouth looked at there were caries or the gaps denoting missing teeth. An old case of scurvy was seen, active cases of scurvy were found in the village, and the people described a local seasonal peak of “bleeding teeth” and swellings in the limbs. Cases of scurvy were also found in a nearby hospital in persons deriving from the same or similar local environments. 5. (5) It is suggested that in such circumstances resettlement is indicated, but that as palliatives, certain trees yielding useful food or economic products may be introduced.