Víctor Valverde

Relationship between family land availability and nutritional status

A study of the relationship between occupation, land owned and/or rented by the family and nutritional status of two‐ and three‐year‐old children was conducted in four rural Guatemalan villages. Families were divided into three occupational groups: salaried agricultural workers, farmers, and skilled workers and merchants. Nutritional status was defined in terms of weight for age. There was a tendency for the children of skilled workers and merchants to have the lowest prevalence of moderate malnutrition. It was found that 76 percent of families classified as farmers controlled less than five manzanas (one manzana = 0.7 hectares). The relative risk of having moderate malnutrition was 2.3 times greater in the two‐ and three‐year‐old children of families with access to less than two manzanas than in those with access to more than five manzanas.

Relationship of maternal and infant nutrition to infant growth.

A cohort of all infants born between January 1, 1969 and February 28, 1977 in four rural villages in Eastern Guatemala which were participating in a longitudinal project of nutrition and mental development was studied. As part of the study, prospective information on anthropometric measurements, morbidity, dietary intake and socioeconomic and cultural characteristics was collected. In addition, two types of food supplements were distributed: calorie and protein-calorie. Attendance at the feeding centers in each village and the amount of supplements consumed by children and pregnant and lactating mothers were recorded daily. We studied the effect of the supplements consumed by the mother during pregnancy and lactation and by the infant on trimestral infant weight and length changes during the first year of life. The data indicate that infant calorie supplementation before three months of age is significantly and negatively associated with infant growth; after three months of age, supplemental calories consumed by the infant are significantly and positively associated with infant weight and length gains. In addition, a small positive association was found between maternal caloric supplementation during lactation and infant growth during the first two trimesters of life, after controlling for potentially confounding factors for which data are available in this study.

Diarrheal diseases, nutritional status and health care: analyses of their interrelationships.

The relationship between diarrheal disease, nutritional status, and health care was studied prospectively in Guatemalan Indian children 0-24 months of age. Subjects were drawn from the Patulul Project, a nutrition intervention study conducted by the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama. The total population includes 7000 Indians who live on 12 coffee plantations in Guatemala. Data were collected from October 1977 to September 1978 and analyzed by quarter: October-December (dry season), April-June (rainy season), and January-March and July-September (transitional). Most diarrhea was found to occur during the rainy season, yet visits to a simplified health care clinic set up as part of the Patulul Project steadily declined from October to September. The conditional probability of visiting the clinic was calculated at less than 50% for children with either simple diarrhea or diarrhea with blood and mucus. Although there were no sex differences in the rate of diarrhea, boys with gastrointestinal disorders were more likely to be taken to the clinic than girls. When children were grouped by nutritional status (weight-for-age, length-for-age, weight-for-length), the cumulative incidence of and percent time ill with diarrhea with blood and mucus were consistently higher in malnourished children. The magnitude of the differences between nutritional groups was highest during the rainy season. The effects of diarrhea episodes and visits to the clinic on weight-for-age changes were also examined. Children with initially low weight-for-age (or=75%) and with diarrhea during the trimester gained significantly less weight-for-age during that period than children without diarrhea. In addition, children with diarrhea who visited the health clinic gained more weight-for-age than those with diarrhea who did not receive care. Diarrhea and health service utilization had less of an effect on well-nourished children. These results support the hypothesis that the negative nutritional consequences of diarrhea are more significant among malnourished children and demonstrate the positive effect of a simplified health care program on the nutritional status of children suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.

Income and growth retardation in poor families with similar living conditions in rural Guatemala.

The relationship between annual family per capita income (AFPCI) and growth retardation in children as ascertained by weight for age (W/A), height for age (H/A) and weight for height (W/H) was studied in families residing in coffee plantations in Guatemala. When W/A and H/A are correlated with AFPCI, significant differences are observed (P 0.05). When AFPCI data are divided by quartiles of income levels, the prevalence of growth retardation is reduced as AFPCI increases. An age dependent effect does exist, since no differences in W/A, H/A and W/H are observed by levels of AFPCI in children 3–30 months; but in older children (36–60 months of age) marked differences are detected. Some mechanisms related to the AFPCIs effect on childrens growth in families regarded as homogeneous in terms of living conditions are discussed.

Physical growth, age at menarche and age at first union in rural Guatemala

The relationship between anthropometric measurements, age at menarche and age at first union was studied in a group of Guatemalan Indian adolescents. From the data, it was concluded that median age at menarche is considerably high and that anthropometric measurements of girls (weight, height and arm circumference) and their age were positively associated with menarcheal status. In addition, it was found that early maturers get married earlier in all age groups. This result supports the hypothesis that the timing of menarche is related to the timing of pregnancy in traditional societies.

Life styles and nutritional status of children from different ecological areas of El Salvador.

Life styles and the nutritional status of children were studied in a coffee, a cotton (intensive) and a basic grain (subsistence) growing region of El Salvador, as well as in populations living in the slums of the capital city, San Salvador. The objectives of the paper were to identify ecological regions with greater magnitude of growth retardation and to describe living patterns that require different social and economic actions in order to reduce the number of people living in deprived conditions in the country. The data includes information on quantitative characteristics of the population and their environment, summaries of anthropological reports describing life styles and infants’ and childrens diets from representative communities of each region, and weight and height of children from 6 to 59 months of age. A higher proportion of children suffering from weight‐for‐age, and height‐for‐age retardation was observed in the coffee and subsistence regions compared with the intensive and urban slums. The...

Protein‐energy intakes in a malnourished population after increasing the supply of the dietary staples

This paper examines the extent to which food intake in malnourished populations is affected by increasing the availability of the dietary staples. Free amounts of corn and beans were supplied to 47 families in a rural Guatemalan community during eight weeks. Relative to a six‐week baseline period, adults increased their intakes by about 400 kcal (1.68 MJ) and 15 gof protein per day. The average changes for pre‐school children were 198 kcl (0.83 MJ) and 5.8 g of protein per day. The findings suggest that it is possible for adults to satisfy their energy and protein needs by consuming more corn and beans. In children, bulk may be a limiting factor and it may be necessary to resort to additional measures, such as increasing the energy density of the diet, to satisfy needs.

Political and administrative distribution of nutritional status in panama according to the height census of first grade school children

Height is the most suitable anthropometric measurement reflecting the effects of social and economic factors in the health and nutritional conditions of communities. It can be used to identify the minimum level of desaggregation of political‐administrative areas exhibiting the highest prevalence of malnutrition. A national census of height of 58,000 first grade school children located in 3,000 schools was conducted in the Republic of Panama which is divided into four provinces, 65 districts, an Indian community and 505 counties. The results showed marked differences in height retardation among provinces, among districts and among counties. In the latter political administrative unit, the range of prevalence of height retardation in first graders varied from 0 to 95 %. Marked differences were observed within a given district in budget retardation as is the case in the Nata District (4 to 40 %). The national census of first grade school childrens height has provided an opportunity to identify and quantify ...