María Fernanda Torres

Socio-environmental conditions, intestinal parasitic infections and nutritional status in children from a suburban neighborhood of La Plata, Argentina.

We analyzed intestinal parasitic infections in children aged 1-12 years from a poor neighborhood in La Plata, Argentina, and determined the correlations with their nutritional status and socio-environmental conditions. We performed parasitological analyses with anal brushed technique (for Enterobius vermicularis eggs) and fecal samples, employing the techniques of Ritchie, Carles Barthelemy and Willis. The worm burdens of nematodes were estimated by means of Kato Katz technique. Low weight-for-age (underweight), height-for-age (stunting) and weight-for-height (wasting) were calculated based on the 5th centile of the WHO 2006 (children under 5) and CDC 2000 (older children and adolescents) growth references. We also analyzed samples of soil, water, and canine feces and surveyed other domestic and environmental data using structured questionnaires to each childs parents. To associate the parasitological, anthropometric and socio-environmental data, a categorical analysis of principal components (catPCA) was conducted. In the first axis of catPCA, the correlations among socio-environmental variables showed a gradient of relative welfare. The eigenvectors showed the most influential variables in the analysis were promiscuity (0.0765), fathers education (-0.741), crowding (0.727), wastewater disposal (-0.658), mothers education (-0.574), and flooding (-0.409). The 85% of children were parasitized and 79.6% polyparasitized. The 27.7% of children had deficit in some nutritional status indicator, being the stunting the most prevalent deficit (16.8%). There also found parasites in 42% of the dog feces, 53% of the soil samples, and non-pathogenic amoebae in the water samples. The SEV was mainly associated with geohelminths and stunting, especially among the poorest children. The study evidences that living conditions are variable within this population. Part of these variations could be linked to the differences in the extent to which parents are able to use their scant resources to influence their childrens morbidity. Further studies need to be done from a qualitative approach.

Socioenvironmental Conditions and Nutritional Status in Urban and Rural Schoolchildren

We analyzed the nutritional status of urban and rural schoolchildren from Mendoza (Argentina), but avoided rural and urban categorization by generating subpopulations as a function of their socioenvironmental characteristics. We transformed weight and height data into z‐scores using the CDC/NCHS growth charts; defined underweight, stunting, and wasting by z‐scores of less than −2 SD; and calculated overweight and obesity, according to the cutoff proposed by the International Obesity Task Force. Socioenvironmental characteristics included housing, public services, parental resources, and farming practices; we processed these variables by categorical principal‐component analysis. The two first axes defined four subgroups of schoolchildren: three of these were associated with urban characteristics, while the remaining subgroup was considered rural. Nutritional status differed across groups, whereas overweight was similar among the groups and obesity higher in urban middle‐income children. Urban differences were manifested mainly as underweight, but rural children exhibited the greatest stunting and wasting. Thus, the negative effects of environment on nutritional status in children are not restricted to poor periurban and rural areas, though these are indeed unfavorable environments for growth: some urban families provide children with sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to expose them to obesity. By contrast, the more affluent urban families would appear to have greater possibilities for allowing their children to adopt a healthy life‐style. Although the causes of differences in nutritional status between middle‐ and high‐income urban groups are not clear, these determinants probably involve economic as well as educational influences. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2008.

Estructura de la población prehistórica del noroeste argentino (sector septentrional). Distribución de características epigeneticas

Durante las Sextas Jornadas Nacionales de Antropologia Biologica, llevadas a cabo entre el 8 y el 11 de octubre de 2003, en Catamarca, tuvo lugar la Mesa de Trabajo sobre Ensenanza de la Antropologia Biologica, coordinada por la Dra. Delia Lomaglio, de la que participaron docentes e investigadores pertenecientes a universidades de las regiones Norte Grande, Centro y Patagonia de Argentina y colegas extranjeros de Espana y Uruguay. Los temas tratados fueron: 1. Analisis del estado actual de la ensenanza de la Antropologia Biologica en general y su relacion con otras disciplinas y en los diferentes niveles educativos. 2. Insercion de la Antropologia Biologica en carreras antropologicas. 3. Insercion de la Antropologia Biologica en carreras no antropologicas (Ciencias Sociales, Ciencias Naturales, Ciencias Humanas). 4. Banco de Antropologos Biologos.