Examples of malnutrition related to protein deficiency, including kwashiorkor, nutritional marasmus and "nutritional growth failure," are commonly seen in early childhood in rural West Bengal. While this was mainly due to poverty, and especially the economic inability to buy animal protein foods, together with repeated attacks of enteritis and constant intestinal parasitism, in addition, it was found that certain aspects of the local domestic culture pattern acted as "cultural blocks" between the child and the theoretically available sources of protein. Results of a survey of local methods of infant feeding are summarized and some of the important cultural blocks outlined, including delays in the traditional rice-feeding ceremony, reasons for unwillingness to introduce mixed feedings in the second 6 months of life, failure to use or produce certain foods (with especial relation to the four types of food classification found in the village), general dietary restriction during illness and specific blocks with regard to individual sources of protein. The importance of having health measures based on an understanding of the local domestic culture pattern is emphasized.
The resolution property via Azumaya algebras
