| Title |
Cross-sectional dietary deficiencies among a prison population in Papua New Guinea
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Public Health, April 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1186/1472-698x-13-21 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Camilla Gould, Benoit Tousignant, Garry Brian, Robert McKay, Rosalind Gibson, Karl Bailey, Bernard J Venn |
| Abstract |
BACKGROUND: To investigate the dietary adequacy of prisoners of Beon Prison, Madang, Papua New Guinea in response to a report of possible nutritional deficiency. METHODS: We undertook an observational, cross-sectional study. All 254 male inmates (May 2010) were eligible to answer a validated interview-based questionnaire; to have a comprehensive dietary assessment; and to provide blood for biochemical analysis (alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, lutein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, homocysteine, zinc, ferritin, and vitamins A, B12 and C). Prison guards were invited to participate as a comparison group. RESULTS: 148 male prisoners (58.3%) and 13 male prison guards participated. Prison rations consisted of white rice fortified with thiamin, niacin, and iron, tinned tuna, tinned corned beef, water crackers, and black tea, with occasional intakes of fruit and vegetables. Some prisoners received supplementary food from weekend visitors. From assessment of the prisoners dietary data, median intakes of calcium (137 mg), potassium (677 mg), magnesium 182 mg), riboflavin (0.308 mg), vitamin A (54.1 mug), vitamin E (1.68 mg), vitamin C (5.7 mg) and folate (76.4 mug) were found to be below estimated average requirements (EAR).Following are the prisoners median (P25, P75) concentration of circulating nutrients and the percentage of prisoners with levels below normal reference ranges or recognized cut-off values: serum retinol 0.73 (0.40, 1.21) mumol/L, 46% below 0.7 mumol/L; plasma folate 2.0 (1.4, 2.6) nmol/L, 98% below 6.8 nmol/L; plasma vitamin C 6.3 (1.0, 19.3) mumol/L, 64% below 11.4 mumol/L; serum zinc 9.9 (8.8, 11.1) mumol/L, 66% below 10.7 mumol/L. Guards had diets with a higher dietary diversity that were associated with greater intakes of nutrients and biomarker concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: The prisoners diets are likely lacking in several micronutrients and recommendations for dietary change have been made to the prison authorities. Ongoing vigilance is required in prisons to ensure the basic human right of access to a nutritionally adequate diet is being observed. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 4 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 50% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 25% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 25% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 75% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 25% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 61 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 61 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 12 | 20% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 8 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 11% |
| Other | 5 | 8% |
| Researcher | 5 | 8% |
| Other | 6 | 10% |
| Unknown | 18 | 30% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and Health Professions | 16 | 26% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 11 | 18% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 7% |
| Social Sciences | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 4 | 7% |
| Unknown | 18 | 30% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 May 2013.
All research outputs
#15,739,529
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from BMC Public Health
#11,856
of 17,509 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#120,043
of 208,644 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Public Health
#212
of 312 outputs
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