An application of the analysis of covariance to dietetic Studies in Acatenango, Guatemala

Summary

In Acatenango, Guatemala studies were made of the dietetic intakes and requirements of groups of families, in the following way: 40 families were studied for exactly one day and a different group of 10 families was studied for exactly one week. This paper considers what information can be gotten from the caloric data by removing the “effect of requirement”, points out important differences in the two types of studies, and shows how the “one-week method” was improperly performed, but indicates how this data was able at least partially to be salvaged. In particular, if it is important to see an “effect” of family, then it is not satisfactory to perform the one-day method, and if the seven-day method is used, the intakes must be recorded day-by-day and not just averaged over a week, lest the effects of family and of day be lost.

It is demonstrated that the effect of family is extremely important in Acatenango and that the effect of day of the week on caloric consumption is of very little importance.