Naiara Sperandio

Comparação do estado nutricional infantil com utilização de diferentes curvas de crescimento

Artigo elaborado a partir projeto de iniciacao cientifica intitulado “Estimativa da prevalencia de inadequacao de nutrientes e deanemia em criancas do municipio de Vicosa (MG)”. Projeto este derivado de um estudo multicentrico intitulado “Nutri Brasilinfância”. Apoio: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico, processo n.106823/2008-6.

Inquéritos antropométricos e alimentares na população brasileira: importante fonte de dados para o desenvolvimento de pesquisas

Resumo Objetivou-se analisar as diferencas metodologicas dos inqueritos antropometricos e alimentares brasileiros classificados em domiciliares, escolares e telefonicos, e refletir sobre as potencialidades e os entraves envolvidos na utilizacao dos dados secundarios dos mesmos. Os documentos que compuseram o corpus deste artigo foram relatorios oficiais publicados dos estudos. Os resultados retrataram diferencas metodologicas em relacao a avaliacao do consumo alimentar, a antropometria, a periodicidade e a forma de acesso as bases de dados. As fontes de dados secundarios, que antes limitavam-se a divulgacao de relatorios impressos, passaram a ser disponibilizadas sob a forma de microdados em bases eletronicas. No entanto, essas bases sao ainda pouco exploradas pelos pesquisadores da saude, devido a complexidade de extracao e de analise dos dados. Isso justifica a importância da insercao nos cursos de pos-graduacao em saude de disciplinas que promovam habilidades para uso dessas bases, que contem variaveis sobre a situacao de saude e nutricao da populacao, alem das socioeconomicas e demograficas nao presentes nos sistemas tradicionais de informacao em saude. Conclui-se que o trabalho com dados secundarios exige qualificacao e o uso dessa fonte de informacao contribui para adequado planejamento em saude.

Escalas de percepção da insegurança alimentar validadas: a experiência dos países da América Latina e Caribe

The scope of this systematic review was to compare the food insecurity scales validated and used in the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and analyze the methods used in validation studies. A search was conducted in the Lilacs, SciELO and Medline electronic databases. The publications were pre-selected by titles and abstracts, and subsequently by a full reading. Of the 16,325 studies reviewed, 14 were selected. Twelve validated scales were identified for the following countries: Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Guatemala. Besides these, there is the Latin American and Caribbean scale, the scope of which is regional. The scales ranged from the standard reference used, number of questions and diagnosis of insecurity. The methods used by the studies for internal validation were calculation of Cronbachs alpha and the Rasch model; for external validation the authors calculated association and /or correlation with socioeconomic and food consumption variables. The successful experience of Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of national and regional scales can be an example for other countries that do not have this important indicator capable of measuring the phenomenon of food insecurity.

Impact of Bolsa Família Program on the nutritional status of children and adolescents from two Brazilian regions

Objetivo: Avaliar e comparar o impacto do Programa Bolsa Familia no estado nutricional de criancas e adolescentes do Nordeste e Sudeste brasileiro. Metodos: A base de dados procedeu de uma subamostra da Pesquisa de Orcamento Familiar de 2008-2009. Calculou-se a proporcao de criancas e adolescentes com baixo peso, baixa estatura e excesso de peso. A analise da medida de impacto foi precedida de tecnica (Propensity Score Matching) que assemelha, familias beneficiarias e nao beneficiarias, em relacao a um conjunto de caracteristicas socioeconomicas. O impacto do programa foi estimado atraves do algoritmo de pareamento do vizinho mais proximo. Resultados: No Nordeste, a proporcao de criancas e adolescentes abaixo do peso foi em media, 1,1% menor nas familias beneficiarias, em comparacao as nao beneficiarias. No Sudeste, a proporcao de criancas e adolescentes acima do peso foi em media, 4,2% menor nas familias beneficiarias. Nao foi observado impacto do programa sobre o deficit de estatura em ambas as regioes. Conclusao: Os resultados retrataram impacto positivo e boa focalizacao do programa, que se atrelado a acoes estruturais pode contribuir para melhoria do estado nutricional e qualidade de vida dos beneficiarios.

Impacto do Programa Bolsa Família no consumo de alimentos: estudo comparativo das regiões Sudeste e Nordeste do Brasil

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) on food consumption in the northeast and southeast regions of Brazil. The database was obtained from the individual food consumption module of the Household Budget Survey conducted in 2008-09. Consumption was assessed through two food records. The food was categorized into four groups: fresh or minimally processed food; culinary ingredients; processed food; and ultra-processed food. To analyze the impact, the propensity score matching method was used, which compares the individual recipients and non-recipients of the PBF in relation to a group of socioeconomic characteristics. After the propensity score was calculated, the impact of the PBF was estimated through the nearest-neighbor matching algorithm. In both regions, more than 60% of the daily total calories consumed by PBF recipients came from foods that had not undergone industrial processing. The recipients of PBF had a low level of consumption of processed and ultra-processed food in both regions, and an increased level of consumption of fresh or minimally processed food in the northeast. The results indicate the importance of adopting intersectoral policies in parallel to the PBF in order to strengthen healthy eating practices.

Differences in the hemoglobin cut-off point for the diagnosis of anemia as a function of race/color

Hemoglobin levels vary according to age, gender, different phases of pregnancy, smoking habit, and altitude. In the early 90s, researchers began to notice unexplained differences in hemoglobin levels between whites and blacks in various age groups. Since then, studies began to be published to identify which factors would be responsible for such differences. From a review of the literature, we aimed at exposing relevant aspects that may assist in the understanding of why blacks have lower levels of hemoglobin in relation to whites. The Medline, Lilacs, and Pubmed databases were used for this review. Studies have shown that the levels of hemoglobin in blacks are lower, ranging between 0.5 and 1 g/dL in relation to whites. This difference remains, even controlling for possible confounding factors such as intake and iron nutritional status, socioeconomic status, age, and comorbidities among others. The studies, however, do not come to a conclusion about what raises this difference between races. Therefore, proposing specific cut-off points as a function of race, as some authors suggest, may be precipitated and result in not identifying people with anemia, which is considered a serious public health problem in Brazil.