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Letters to the Editor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Henry Bremond Pellat
Henry Bremond Pellat
Affiliation:
President, Asociacion Franco Mexicana Suiza y Belga de Beneficencia IAP Calz.Legaria 449 Col.Deportiva Pensil Mexico, DF 11470
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Type
Letter to the Editor
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , May 2009 , pp. 735 - 736
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2009

Leaf concentrate. Undernutrition

Benefits for children in Mexico

Madam

I have been following your correspondence on clinical observations of the benefits of leaf concentrate when given to children, pregnant women and nursing mothers and undernourished adults(Reference Waterlow1–Reference Coly6). I wish to record our experience in Mexico over the last nine years.

My Association was founded in 1841 and is dedicated solely to philanthropic activities. It is certified as an institution of public benefit. One of our activities is the production and distribution, free of charge, of leaf concentrate products.

Our mission here is to find solutions to the poor diets and malnutrition that exist in certain sectors of the population. The leaf concentrate initiative is led by Dr Carlos Gonzalez, nutritionist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is responsible for receiving the concentrate and producing and distributing all the leaf products that we provide free to 25 000 children who attend fifty-four institutions (such as schools, orphanages, community centres) in Mexico City and surrounding states. Most children receive 5 g of concentrate daily, with more being given to those whose health requires it.

Our products are very well accepted by the children. We have numerous testimonials and professional and official data as well as statistics collected by ourselves. These show the remarkable results of our products and that there have never been any negative effects.

We rely on the support of professors and directors of private institutions and official organisations, such as the National Institute of Nutrition and the National Paediatric Institute, who bear witness to the results obtained in combating malnutrition and anaemia together with an improvement in the children’s performance at school and in their physical and mental development.

Editor’s note

We will be pleased to hear from readers who have experience of the effects of concentrate made from leaves of local plants. We will also be pleased to hear from readers who have doubts about the benefits of leaf concentrate or who believe that other nutritional methods to alleviate malnutrition and address disease are preferable.

References

1.Waterlow, J (2008) Undernutrition should be the first priority (Letter). Public Health Nutr 11, 651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Davys, G (2009) The greatest untapped food resource on earth? (Letter). Public Health Nutr 12, 142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Pallanca, G (2009) The elimination of NOMA (Cancrum oris)? (Letter). Public Health Nutr 12, 291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Bonnet, M-J (2009) Nourishing child and adult patients in Congolese hospitals (Letter). Public Health Nutr 12, 439–440.Google Scholar
5.Andrianasolo, F (2009) Nourishing inmates in Malagasy prisons (Letter). Public Health Nutrition 12, 440.Google Scholar
6.Coly, A (2009) Testimony from a clinic in Senegal (Letter). Public Health Nutrition 12, 587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar