Table 3. Comparison of the average adult diet model for the Northern Marshall Islands with the
average adult diet for the United States and for Japan.
Average adult diet
model for the Northern
Marshall Islands
Imports
available
Food intake, g/d
Fluid intake, g/d
1450
2326
Imports
unavailable
Average adult diet
for the United States
Yang and Abraham
Nelson, et al., 1979 Rupp,
900
1986
1980
1066
for Japan
Japan's
Hisamatsu Ministry of
et al., 1987
FHealtha
—
1232
1253
1352
—
_
—
758
1526
—_
kcal/d
3231
1256
4 Reported by Hisamatsuet al. (1987).
1853
1925
Caloric intake,
Average adult diet
1351
—
—
b Milk is listed under both food and fluid intake.
supporting atoll-specific data are
unavailable.
3. There is still some uncertainty about
what the average diet really is at any
atoll.
4. Many factors can affect the average diet
Over any specific year.
9. Further atoll-specific dietary data are
needed to improve the precision of the
dose assessment for each resettlement
situation.
6. Even thoughthere is some uncertainty in the precise adult diet at an atoll, the
relative difference in average intake
between adults and infants and children
are consistent between the two surveys
(Robison et al., 1980; Naidu et al., 1980).
~ Teenage (12 to 17 y)
The average total daily intake of food for
this age is very similar to that of adults.
Although the average intake is somewhat less
than for adults, some individuals at the older
cy
Cry
cl)
end of the age group may well exceed the
average adult intake (Robisonet al., 1980).
Children (4 to 11 y)
At this age, the children are essentially on
a diet similar to that of the adults. The intake
of drinking coconutfluid and coconut milk may
approach that for adults, but diet surveys
indicate it to be less (Robison et al., 1980; Naidu
et al., 1980}. Consumption of other food
products, both local and imported, is less than
that of adults (Robison et al., 1980; Naidu et al.,
1980).
Children (1.5 to 3 y)
At about 1.5 y, children are weaned from
breast- or bottle-feeding with mixtures of soft
rice and tea, or flour boiled in water and mixed
with tea, and/or foods cooked for longer periods
of time to make them softer in texture (Marsh,
1973; Pollock, 1974). Flaherty (1988) mentions
that rice or flour-tea mixtures are preferred even
_ if local dishes such as Pandanus pudding and
breadfruit soup are available. This weaning
leads to a diet by about age 2 that is similar in
composition to the adult diet, but with total
intake being significantly less than that for teenagers or adults (Robison et al., 1980, 1982a;