We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
To investigate the determinants of mild-to-moderate malnutrition in preschoolers.
Design
Cross-sectional study conducted in October and November 1996, with a representative sample of 1740 children less than 5 years old from the city of Salvador, situated in the Brazilian Northeastern region. Socio-economic and dietary data were collected through a structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measures were performed in duplicate and data analysis was based upon the hierarchical model approach. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the prevalence ratio and to identify the determinants of mild-to-moderate deficits in weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores.
Results
Family monthly income under US$67.00 per capita and family headed by a woman were the main basic determinants of mild-to-moderate weight-for-age and height-for-age deficits in the studied children. Household agglomeration, an underlying determinant, was associated with weight-for-age and height-for-age deficits. Among the immediate determinants, age above 6 months and dietary caloric availability in the lowest tertile (<930 kcal day−1) were also associated with weight-for-age deficits. In addition to these, hospitalisation in the 12 months preceding the interview was shown to be a predictor of mild-to-moderate weight-for-age and height-for-age deficits.
Conclusion
Adverse social and economic factors interact with family environmental factors to define food consumption and morbidity patterns that culminate in a high prevalence of mild-to-moderate malnutrition. The strengthening and restructuring of nutrition and healthcare actions, the definition of public policies that improve family income, and the adequate insertion of women in the labour market are possible strategies to reduce mild-to-moderate malnutrition and to sustain the decline already observed in severe malnutrition.
Recommend this
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.