Local boy does science project in Africa

Micah Manary

Many things about 13-year-old Micah Manary's school science project are unusual. For one, he spent five months in Africa doing the research.

Last month, the 8th grader from St. Roch Catholic School represented the St. Louis region in a Missouri science academy competition. He presented his nutrition study on little HIV-positive children in the African country of Malawi.

His project involved testing three different basic diets on children up to 5 years of age. The goal was to see if the diets could help the malnourished children reach normal weight.

"We wanted to see if the children could reach 100% of the World Health Organization's goals for weight to height," he said.

He said 52% of the children did reach that goal during the 5-month study. Micah was in Malawi for the whole time to handle the distribution of the diets and to measure the kids.

Micah had the opportunity to do the research in that southern African country because his father, Dr. Mark Manary, has been heading up a larger long-term nutritional study there.

Dr. Manary is an associate professor of pediatrics at Washington University's School of Medicine. He's also with St. Louis Children's Hospital's Division of Emergency Medicine.

With major foundation grants, Dr. Manary heads up what is known in Malawi as "Project Peanut Butter." The object is to improve nutrition in that poor country by developing nutritious foods based on peanuts.

Children in Malawi

Malawi is a land-locked country of 11 million people, located in the southeast corner of Africa. Dr. Manary said 85% of the population are "peasant farmers." Residents have one of the lowest per-capital incomes in the world, something like $40 per year.

Micah said 25% of all people there are HIV-positive or have AIDS. And, he added, 25% of children are malnourished, "include 10% who are so hungry that they're ill," he said.

The three diets used in Micah's study may sound awfully dull to American kids. But, he needed to use foods which were available locally. People there can't afford to buy food.

One diet was a "peanut butter" food, "kind of like a porridge," Micah said. This included peanuts, milk powder, sugar and either corn or soybean oil. These ingredients were mixed together in a food blender.

"It had all the vitamins, minerals and energy the young children needed," he said.

Asked about taste, Micah said, "It's very, very sweet. It's got lots of sugar because they need lots of energy when they're small." He said the oil is a source of fat, also a necessity for small children to help growth.

One of the other diets consisted of a dough made from corn-soy flour, the most common food in Malawi. The other was a combination of corn-soy dough and a peanut supplement.

Asked about liquids in the diet, Micah said, "some were still breast-feeding." But, otherwise, they drank water, he said.

Although the children were all listed as HIV-positive or with AIDS, he said all were at home and not in a hospital.

The 5-month period for Micah's science project was in 2001. However, he spent three more weeks in Malawi this spring, getting back in early April in time to present his project in the state science competition.

Asked about his career goal, Micah said, "I want to be like my dad." He added, "I like helping people; that's what I want to do."

Dr. and Mrs. Manary were missionaries in the African country of Tanzania in the 1980s. Then, when the children started to come, he came back to the United States and entered medical school at Washington University.

But, he maintained his interest in Africa and was able to find grants for work there.

Micah said the "Project Peanut Butter" started in 2001. The first year was used to find out if a peanut-based diet would improve nutrition. In 2002, the goal shifted to discover whether this food could be produced with all-local ingredients.

This year, the project expanded from one food station to seven throughout the country, to allow for more thorough testing.

For Micah, one of the problems during his 5-month research study was how to keep up with his homework.

"When we went, I brought all of the study materials and tests I needed. Then, I'd work during the day and study at night," he said. Usually, he was up about 6 a.m. and finished work about 5 p.m. Then, it was study time.

But, Micah isn't an all-study type of guy. He likes to play soccer and basketball and this spring was named to the "all city band." He plays percussion, everything from snare drums to the xylophone.