Related Experiment Videos
[Physical growth of children from the Peruvian Amazon born in the eighties]
1Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Insights
In Peruvian Amazon children under 5, 28.3% had low height-for-age. Improved maternal education and hygienic services significantly reduced this prevalence, highlighting key factors for child growth interventions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Public Health
- Growth Monitoring
Context:
- Study conducted in Iquitos and Punchana, Peruvian Amazon, during the 1980s.
- Utilized data from 673 children under 5 years old.
- Employed a clinical and nutritional research survey with a multi-stage stratified probability sample.
Purpose:
- To present physical growth data for children under 5 in the Peruvian Amazon.
- To identify factors associated with low height-for-age in this population.
- To inform targeted interventions for improving child growth.
Summary:
- High prevalence of low height-for-age (28.3%) was observed, contrasting with lower rates of low weight-for-age (12.5%).
- Key determinants for low height-for-age included child age, maternal education levels (higher education associated with reduced risk), and hygienic services (lack of proper sanitation increased risk).
- Statistical analyses included prevalence calculations, means, standard deviations, ANOVA, t-tests, relative risk, and odds ratios using EPI-INFO and MULTLRM software.
Impact:
- Findings underscore the significant influence of ecological and socioeconomic factors on child physical growth.
- Suggests interventions should prioritize expanding educational access for mothers and improving community hygiene conditions.
- Provides evidence for targeted public health strategies to combat stunting in vulnerable populations.
Abstract:
This paper presents data of physical growth for 673 children under 5 years born in the eighties in Iquitos and Punchana, Peruvian Amazon. The data were based on a clinical and nutritional research survey and a multiple stratified probability sample procedure was used. The statistical analysis were performed on EPI-INFO Version 6.04 and MULTLRM and included: prevalence of z-score under-2 standard deviation, means and standard deviation, ANOVA, t-test, relative risk and odds ratio. The results showed a high prevalence of low height/age (28.3%) and a relatively low for weight/age (12.5%). The final model obtained from the unconditional logistic regression included the following variables as independent factors significantly associated with low height/age: child age (RR = 1.05, CI 95%: 1.03-1.07); maternal education > 5 and < 10 years (RR = 0.48, IC 95%: 0.32-0.73), maternal education > 10 years (RR = 0.11, CI 95%: 0.01-0.89) and hygienic services with latrine (RR = 2.22, CI 95%: 1.46-3.37) and without WC (RR = 4.15, CI 95%: 1.56-10.99). These findings coroborate the influence of ecological factors on the determination of low height/age, and suggest that interventions should be centered on the enlargement of educational coverage and on improvements of hygienic conditions, as for this Peruvian school sample, both variables were defined as potential determinants for the low height/age.