Evaluación del estado nutricional, cantidad y frecuencia de la alimentación en escolares de segundo año de educación básica de las escuelas fiscales del centro urbano de la Parroquia Gualaceo, Cantón Gualaceo. Año 2015

Abstract

Background: The nutritional status of a population is an indicator of health. During the first half of the 20th century, child malnutrition was a serious public health problem in Ecuador. However, in the last decade it has seen a variation of this situation, without leaving out the malnutrition that continue being one of the major health problems in the country, childhood obesity appears as another issue to concern. General Objective: Assessing the nutritional status, quantity and frequency of feeding on second year students of basic education for public schools of the urban center parish Gualaceo – canton Gualaceo in 2015. Methodology and Materials: The study was transversal descriptive, conducted in 446 students from 6 public schools of canton Gualaceo, the weight, height, BMI and nutritional status were determined. In addition, a survey to parents to determine the quantity and frequency of children’s feeding, was applied. The information was entered in a Microsoft Excel’s database and was analyzed in SPSS. The statistical analysis was performed using measures of absolute and relative frequency for qualitative variables, and measures of central tendency for quantitative. Results: Of the total of 446 children, 46% were men and 54% women. Concerning to the nutritional status, the results were: a high rate of children with normal weight (87%), 8% of obese children, 4% of children with low weight and 1% of children with overweight. About the feeding frequency, the average number of times that children eat per day was 4.42.