The impact of ordinary illnesses on the dietary intakes of malnourished children

Abstract

The effect of respiratory infections, diarrhea, illness-induced apathy, and of a summary variable of selected common symptoms on food intake was estimated from data collected on preschool children from rural Guatemala. The presence of selected common symptoms was associated with an average reduction in daily intake of nearly 20%, equivalent to 175 kcal and 4.8 g of protein. Effects were of similar magnitude for diarrhea and for apathy but lower for respiratory infections, namely 61 kcal and 1.0 g of protein. It is concluded that common illnesses are an important cause of low dietary intakes in children from Guatemala.