The Nutrition of Nigerian Peasants, with Special Reference to the Effects of Deficiencies of the Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin A and Animal Protein

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Abstract
Comparisons are presented of the nutritional status of Nigerian tribesmen subsisting on diets composed mainly of grain and of starchy roots and fish. Foods were weighed in bulk before cooking and individual helpings were weighed before eating. Estimations were made of edible portions and percentage waste. Major nutritional diseases were not encountered, but minor nutritional deficiency stigmata were often recorded. Most common among these latter were corneal opacity, follicular hyperkeratosis and night-blindness, concerned with low vit. A; conjunctival vascularity, angular stomatitis and "permanent gooseflesh," concerned with low riboflavin; diffuse neuralgic pains, dyspepsia, emotional instability and undue proneness to fatigue, concerned with low thiamine, and "pebbling" of the filiform papillae of the tongue which was associated with niacin deficiency. It was considered that low animal protein in the diet, possibly through causing tryptophan deficiency, resulted in many cases of tongue lesions. The author deduced that 0.46 mg. riboflavin, and 0.34 mg. thiamine per 1000 cal. intake were not sufficient to cover all the requirements of daily life and inherent individual variability.