Understanding the nutrition of poor urban women: ethnographic and biological approaches

To better understand how women respond to conditions of urban poverty in a developing country a sample of 85 women living in Cali, Colombia was studied. Anthropometric indicators of nutritional status were normal for the group. However, many women indicated that they did not always have sufficient money to purchase food, and described the strategies they used when financial resources were inadequate. These strategies included changes in meal composition, reductions in food portion size, and reductions in the number of meals eaten. Evidence of the use of these strategies was identified in 17.1% of all diet records (n = 509). The adequate nutritional status of this group of women suggests that their strategies were usually successful in maintaining adequate energy intake, but the frequent use of these strategies suggests that the women are potentially at risk for undernutrition.