Absorption of carbohydrate from rice in Burmese village children and adults

Abstract

Breath-hydrogen tests (BHTs) were performed on 310 Burmese village children aged 1-59 mo. After a 10-g lactulose test meal, 94 (30.3%) children produced less than 10 ppm H2 above basal values (nonhydrogen producers). Of 216 hydrogen producers, 210 were tested after a cooked rice meal (3 g cooked rice/kg body wt, equivalent to 1 g carbohydrate/kg body wt) with the BHT. Hydrogen peaks greater than or equal to 10 ppm above baseline concentrations were produced by 133 (66.5%) children who were defined as rice malabsorbers. Forty-three percent to 62% of children were less than or equal to -3 SD of the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS) median weight-for-age and length-for-age and less than -2 SD of the NCHS median weight-for-length. There were no differences between rice absorbers (peak hydrogen less than 10 ppm above baseline) and rice malabsorbers in the allometric indices (the Ehrenberg index and the Dugdale index) of weight-for-length. Rice-carbohydrate malabsorption was also detected by BHTs in 26.7% of 86 school children (aged 5-15 y), 38.5% of 39 young adults (aged 15-39 y), and 50% of 34 older adults (aged 40-70 y).