Cesar Augusto Taconeli

Prevalence and risk factors of anemia in children

OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence and factors associated with anemia in children attending Municipal Early Childhood Education Day Care Center (Centros Municipais de Educação Infantil [CMEI]) nurseries in Colombo-PR. METHODS Analytical, cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 334 children obtained by stratified cluster sampling, with random selection of 26 nurseries. Data collection was conducted through interviews with parents, assessment of iron intake by direct food weighing, and hemoglobin measurement using the finger-stick test. Bivariate association tests were performed followed by multiple logistic regression adjustment. RESULTS The prevalence of anemia was 34.7%. Factors associated with anemia were: maternal age younger than 28 years old (p=0.03), male children (p=0.02), children younger than 24 months (p=0.01), and children who did not consume iron food sources (meat+beans+dark green leafy vegetables) (p=0.02). There was no association between anemia and iron food intake in CMEI. However, iron intake was well below the recommended levels according to the National Education Development Fund resolution, higher prevalence of anemia was observed in children whose intake of iron, heme iron, and nonheme iron was below the median. CONCLUSIONS In terms of public health, the prevalence of anemia is characterized as a moderate problem in the studied population and demonstrates the need for coordination of interdisciplinary actions for its reduction in CMEI nurseries.

Behavior and body surface temperature as welfare indicators in selected sheep regularly brushed by a familiar observer

ABSTRACT Research on emotions in farm animals has increasingly contributed to their welfare. We aimed to study behavioral and body temperature responses of dorper and white dorper sheep regularly brushed on their ventral neck, lateral chest, and withers. We performed 3‐minute assessments in prebrushing, brushing, and postbrushing phases. Vocalization, ear postures and changes, half‐closed eyes, and tail wagging were assessed. We also recorded withers (Tw), anal (Ta), and nasal (Tn) temperatures with an infrared thermometer. Vocalization was infrequent throughout the phases. We identified 3 ear postures frequently performed by the animals: raised up (R), horizontal (H), and backward (B). We noted a longer duration of R rather than H posture before brushing than during brushing. By comparing B and H, we observed that dorper sheep performed the B posture for longer, mainly during than postbrushing. When B and R were compared, sheep expressed the B posture for longer during brushing than both prebrushing and postbrushing phases; dorpers and male sheep also performed the B posture for longer. The results suggest higher performance of B and H postures during the stimulus and that their expression might be associated with a positive, relaxing state of the animals. No significant result was found for ear changes. Sheep showed half‐closed eyes mainly in brushing and postbrushing phases, in comparison with the prebrushing phase, indicating that brushing might have elicited a relaxing state in the animals, which might have persisted after the stimulus. Only 4 male sheep wagged their tails, mostly when brushed. We also noted attention‐seeking behaviors, including following the observer, leaning against the brush with the head or neck, and stretching the neck when brushed. The results on body temperatures indicated higher variance for Tw in relation to Tn and Ta, which had similar variances. Pairwise comparisons indicated that Tw was higher in postbrushing than in the prebrushing phase; Tn was also higher in the postbrushing phase than in both prebrushing and brushing phases, suggesting an increase in Tw and Tn temperatures after the stimulus. No significant differences were reported for Ta. Brushing might have elicited a positive state in sheep. Ear postures and half‐closed eyes may be useful tools for assessing emotions in sheep, as well as withers and nasal temperatures. Furthermore, breed may be a highly significant effect on the expression of ear postures in sheep.

Consumo alimentar de crianças de 12 a 30 meses que frequentam Centros Municipais de Educação Infantil no município de Colombo, Sul do Brasil

Objetivo:Analisar o consumo alimentar de criancas de 12 a 30 meses que frequentam Centros Municipais de Educacao Infantil.Metodos:Estudo transversal realizado com 86 criancas dos Centros Municipais de Educacao Infantil do municipio de Colombo, Parana. O consumo alimentar nas creches foi avaliado pelo metodo da pesagem direta individual dos alimentos em dois dias nao consecutivos e, no domicilio, utilizando-se o recordatorio alimentar de 24 horas. Foram analisadas as medianas e o risco de inadequacao de energia e de nutrientes de acordo com as Ingestoes Dieteticas de Referencia e as recomendacoes do Programa Nacional de Alimentacao Escolar.Resultados:A maioria dos nutrientes apresentou ingestao mediana diaria acima dos valores recomendados pelas Ingestoes Dieteticas de Referencia; o calcio apresentou o maior risco de inadequacao entre os nutrientes; 43% das criancas mostraram elevada ingestao energetica e o lipideo apresentou valor abaixo do aceitavel. O consumo nas creches foi inferior as recomendacoes do Programa Nacional de Alimentacao Escolar para energia, carboidrato, lipideo, calcio, ferro e fibras. A contribuicao da ingestao de energia e lipideo no domicilio foi superior a 50% em relacao a ingestao diaria.Conclusao:Os valores medianos dos nutrientes, geralmente acima das recomendacoes, associados aos riscos de inadequacao de alguns micronutrientes e ao elevado consumo energetico, evidenciam a importância de adequar o consumo alimentar e promover habitos alimentares saudaveis nas criancas.

Performance of coefficient of variation estimators in ranked set sampling

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose and evaluate the performance of different parametric and nonparametric estimators for the population coefficient of variation considering Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) under normal distribution. The performance of the proposed estimators was assessed based on the bias and relative efficiency provided by a Monte Carlo simulation study. An application in anthropometric measurements data from a human population is also presented. The results showed that the proposed estimators via RSS present an expressively lower mean squared error when compared to the usual estimator, obtained via Simple Random Sampling. Also, it was verified the superiority of the maximum likelihood estimator, given the necessary assumptions of normality and perfect ranking are met.

Global and local tests to assess stationarity of Markov transition models

ABSTRACT We present global and local likelihood-based tests to evaluate stationarity in transition models. Three motivational studies are considered. A simulation study was carried out to assess the performance of the proposed tests. The results showed that they present good performance with the control of the type-I error, especially for ordinal responses, and control of the type-II error, especially for the nominal case. Asymptotically they are close to the classical test performance. They can be executed in a single framework without the need to estimate the transition probabilities, incorporating both categorical and continuous covariates, and used to identify sources of non-stationarity.

FOOD INTAKE EVALUATION DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF POSTOPERATIVE OF PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS OR GLYCEMIC ALTERATION SUBMITTED TO ROUX-EN-Y GASTRIC BYPASS

ABSTRACT Background : Obesity is one of the main causes of glycemic change. Failure of clinical obesity treatment may lead to an increase in bariatric surgery. Dietary guidance, in conjunction with disabsorptive and hormonal factors resulting from the anatomical and physiological changes provoked by the surgery, is associated with changes in food intake. Aim: To analyze food intake evolution during the first postoperative year of Roux-en-y gastric bypass in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus or glycemic alteration. Methods : This was a longitudinal and retrospective observational study. For food intake evolution analysis, linear regression models with normal errors were adjusted for each of the nutrients. Results: At 12 months, all patients presented improvement in glycemic levels (p<0.05). During the first postoperative year, there was a reduction in energy intake, macronutrients, consumption of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. Conversely, there was an increase in fiber intake and diet fractionation. It was observed that, despite gastric restrictions, the micronutrient intake specifically recommended for glycemic control was greater up to six months postoperatively. Conclusion: There was change in the quantity and quality of food intake. It was the most prevalent glycemic control contributor up to six months postoperatively. At the end of one year, the diet underwent a change, showing a similar tendency to the preoperative food intake pattern.

An alternative method for evaluating stationarity in transition models

ABSTRACT Transition models are an important framework that can be used to model longitudinal categorical data. A relevant issue in applying these models is the condition of stationarity, or homogeneity of transition probabilities over time. We propose two tests to assess stationarity in transition models: Wald and likelihood-ratio tests, which do not make use of transition probabilities, using only the estimated parameters of the models in contrast to the classical test available in the literature. In this paper, we present two motivating studies, with ordinal longitudinal data, to which proportional odds transition models are fitted and the two proposed tests are applied as well as the classical test. Additionally, their performances are assessed through simulation studies. The results show that the proposed tests have good performance, being better for control of type-I error and they present equivalent power functions asymptotically. Also, the correlations between the Wald, likelihood-ratio and the classical test statistics are positive and large, an indicator of general concordance. Additionally, both of the proposed tests are more flexible and can be applied in studies with qualitative and quantitative covariates.

Consumption of processed foods among children under two years of age: Foods’ pattern analysis

Objective: To evaluate the consumption of processed foods and their association with socioeconomic, demographic and environmental characteristics. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Through home interviews a pre-coded questionnaire was applied, containing data relating to food consumption and socioeconomic, demographic and environmental characteristics. Subjects: Children (n=376) between six months and two years old assisted by the Family Health Program in Guarapuava, Paraná Brazil. Results: Of the 15 industrialized foods eaten more often, 8 were correlated together: artificial juice powder, soda, candy, lollipop, potato chips, margarine, refined sugar and bologna. It was found that this group of food is consumed, on average, 10 days per month. The factors that were significantly associated with increased consumption of these foods were: maternal age under 25 years, maternal education less than eight years, more than 4 people in the household, presence of other children in the household and household income per capita between 0.5 and 1 minimum wage. Conclusions: It is evident that the early introduction of processed foods among young children is influenced by socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors.