Balance Studies on Peanut Biscuit in the Treatment of Kwashiorkor

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Abstract
Balance experiments were performed on twenty-two African children who were convalescing after treatment for kwashiorkor. Each child was given two test diets. In the diets, the protein was derived either from milk alone, or from mixtures of peanuts, corn and wheat flours, and dried skim milk. The mixtures were made in two ways, the milk being cooked with the other ingredients or added raw later. A mixture containing 15 per cent of the milk, uncooked, produced nitrogen retentions that were approximately the same as those produced by the milk diet. The mixture had given excellent results in the treatment of acute kwashiorkor. The results are discussed in relation to the calorie: protein ratios, the percentage of dried skim milk, the availability of the lysine and the amino acid composition of the diets. They are also compared with the results of experiments on African children in the Belgian Congo. A high percentage of the fat of all the diets was absorbed, confirming clinical experience. The ratio of fat to protein in the stools varied with the kind of diet; it was lowest when the milk diet was given.