Fjölrit RALA - 22.03.1979, Page 108

-102-
iron for women is 18 mg and it is therefore clear that women
should in general take iron pills or eat an especially iron-
rich diet.
In order that the diet contain sufficient amounts of all
nutrients, it is necessary for children and teenagers to take
liver oil. Women should eat liver or blood-pudding once a
week. In order to dncrease the intake of folacin and vitamin
Bg , it is best to eat more vegetables and in order to increase
the dietary fiber intake, people need to eat more coarse grain
and fruits and vegetables.
Although the average intake of a certain nutrient is over
recommended limits, some individuals receive considerably less
and even insufficient amounts. Nutritional deficiency diseases
are therefore not a thing of the past. As an example, it is
not uncommon in this country to find children suffering from
iron-deficiency anemia.
Summary
Knowledge on the diet of Icelanders has mainly come from
two surveys. In the years 1939-40, the Nutrition Council did
a survey on the diet of 56 families in urban and rural commun-
ities. In the year 1965, the Statistical Bureau of Iceland
carried out a dietary survey among 100 wage-earning families
in Reykjavík and surrounding communities.
These surveys show that half of the calories in the diet
are obtained from the plant kingdom and half from the animal
kingdom. Over 50% of the food products are domestic agricul-
tural and sea products. The rest is imported food products.
In addition, these surveys show that wage-earners in Reykja-
vík receive on the average sufficient amounts of most nutrients.
However, the intake of dietary fiber, folacin, vitamin Bg and
perhaps iron in the diet of women and vitamin D among children
who don't take liver oil, are insufficient.