Objective: In view of the paucity of data on energy costs, the present study aimed to estimate these for typical daily activities performed by women in rural India. Design: A cross-sectional study covering 26 different activities was done by indirect calorimetry using the Oxylog TM instrument (Morgan). Settings: Villages about 30-40 km from Pune city, Maharashtra, India. Subjects: Energy costs were measured on 22 rural Indian women aged 18-45 years. Results: Irrespective of whether an activity was domestic or farming, energy cost was lower when performed in sitting position (cleaning grains 5.24 kJ min 21 , plucking leafy vegetables 5.76 kJ min 21 ) and increased considerably with the extent of muscular movement (carrying two water containers 14.77 kJ min 21 , chopping firewood 14.5 kJ min 21 ), indicating the importance of the postural details of the activity. Physical activity ratio computed using the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization/United Nations University equation (PAR w ) was lower for all activities compared with that (PAR m ) based on measured basal metabolic rate, indicating the need for a population-specific equation. Furthermore, PAR w identified more activities as belonging to the 'very light' category (nine out of 26 activities), in contrast to the perception of rural women which was supported with empirical evidence. Estimated daily energy expenditure of the women was 7.69 6 0.63 MJ (1837 6 150 kcal) and identified their daily activity pattern as 'moderate' based on PAL w (1.65 6 0.16) while PAL m (2.04 6 0.18) identified it as 'heavy'. Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of qualitative descriptions of the various activities. The energy costs for several daily activities reported in this study could potentially be used for estimating daily energy expenditure of women from similar rural settings. Keywords Energy costs Daily activity Physical activity ratio Rural Indian womenDiscrepancies between measured intakes and estimates of energy expenditure are commonly reported for marginally malnourished populations in the developing world. Very low levels of energy intake, which appear to be incompatible with the levels of obligatory physical activity associated with rural farming life, are often explained by energy sparing through a decrease in basal metabolic rate (BMR) 1,2 , a decrease in discretional activities 3-5 or a decrease in the energy cost of activities 6 . However, in the real-life situation with marginal but sustained energy stress, the reduction in BMR is believed to be negligible 7 . Although reduction in physical activity appears to be an easy strategy to combat energy stress, it is not always possible in subsistence farming communities 8 . In fact, the change in physical activity that occurs is due only to the seasonality in agricultural tasks 9 . Thus, observed seasonal variation in body weight or body fat 10,11 in such communities reflects a way of coping with their marginal energy stress 12 . With little scope for reduction in activity,...

There is increasing concern about zinc availability from cereal‐based vegetarian diets and the need to improve its native bioavailability. Effects of natural fermentation on zinc availability were assessed by in vitro assay with a 65Zn extrinsic tag on four cereals (rice, wheat, sorghum and pearl millet), four decorticated legumes (red gram, bengal gram, green gram and black gram) and their 16 binary combinations. Fermentation significantly increased zinc solubility (2–28%) and zinc uptake by intestinal segment (1–16%). Two‐way ANOVA indicated significant effects of combinations on zinc solubility but not on zinc uptake in both fermented and unfermented states. Levels of phytate‐P were reduced while titratable acid and ascorbic acid levels were increased by fermentation. However, tannins were unchanged.

Cereals including millets are consumed in India as a staple with wide variety of pulses and vegetables in varying proportions. Trace mineral contents of pearl millet are two to ten times higher than that of rice. Comparative performance of pearl millet based (PM) diets as against rice based (RB) diets in terms of trace mineral bioavailability was studied, based on the prevailing dietary patterns in India. In vitro percent dialysability of zinc, iron, copper and manganese under simulated gastrointestinal conditions was considered as indicator of metal bioavailability. Dialysable zinc and iron were estimated using 65 Zn and 59 Fe as tracers, while dialysable copper and manganese were measured by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer for 20 food items and 15 RB and 17 PM diets prepared from these items. Results indicated that percent dialysability of zinc and copper was higher for RB diets than PM diets, while that of iron and manganese were comparable. Total dialysable iron, copper and manganese in PM diet was 2 to 4 times higher than RB diet.

Our findings indicate that in view of prevailing socio-cultural conditions, good nutrition in early life for girls is essential to prevent post-menarcheal height growth while health education programmes are essential to prevent early conception in rural India. These observations have wider implications for similar rural settings especially in other developing countries.

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