[Nutritional status by social stratification in Venezuelan school children]

This study assessed nutritional status of 590 children from Naguanagua, Valencia, attending school, aged between 4 and 14 years and its relation to social stratification, age and gender. Body dimension indicators were used for nutritional diagnosis. NCHS/OMS and Frisancho references were used for height/age (HA) weight/height (WH) cut-off points, and body mass index (BMI). Graffar modified by Mendez was used to establish socioeconomic status. Statistical analyses included descriptives, x2 and student-test.

91% of the children were in poverty, (71% relative and 20% critical). For HA, 6.4% classified as short, 27.6% in risk, and 4.9% tall for age without significative differences between sex. For WH, 0.6% were in nutritional deficit, 10.2% in risk and 22.1% in excess. For BMI, 12.9% had nutritional deficit, 7.3% excess but no significative differences for sex. Stunting and deficit were present in all age groups, but more significantly in those older than 10 years (12%; 23.9% respectively). Social stratification was associated with WH and BMI being deficit more prevalent in III and V class, predominating excess in IV class. The high prevalence of obesity makes this group as a high risk one for chronic degenerative diseases.