The use of nutritional 'positive deviants' to identify approaches for modification of dietary practices

S.M. Wishik and S. Van Der Vynckt

American Journal of Public Health, 1976, vol. 66, issue 1, 38-42

Abstract: The paper describes methodology for doing nutrition surveys among deprived population groups of grossly homogeneous socioeconomic status so as to identify those families in which a child between age six months and five years falls in the upper 25 per cent in height and weight measurements. These families are labeled as being 'Positive Deviants' from the undernutrition that prevails in the population. They are then studied anthropologically to uncover any practices related to food sources, storage, preparation, consumption, and content. The information would be used in designing food supplementation or other nutritional promotion in the population at large on the assumption that the observed 'favorable' practices, although atypical, are feasible and culturally acceptable because they are indigenously rather than extraneously derived. In addition, the survey collected data on fertility because of findings concerning the close interrelatedness among a woman's nutritional state, her age when first giving birth, intervals between births, and the growth and development of her young children. Severe undernutrition raised a woman's safe age threshold for birth above 20 years and a reasonably safe birth interval to more than three years.

Date: 1976
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1976:66:1:38-42_5

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().