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Growth of school children in different urban environments in Argentina
S L Dahinten1, L E Castro, J R Zavatti
1CENPAT-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina. dahinten@cenpat.edu.ar
Background:
Nutritional transition has been described in various countries, each showing inherent characteristics. Furthermore, different patterns also appear within the same country.
Aim:
To compare the nutritional status of schoolchildren, of both sexes, living in two Argentine cities with different urban and environment characteristics, from the perspective of nutritional transition.
Subjects And Methods:
The sample comprised 5355 children (6-13 years) living in Puerto Madryn (Chubut) and General Alvear (Mendoza), Argentina. Weight and height were transformed into Z-scores according to NHANES I- II; underweight, stunting and wasting defined by - 2 SD and overweight and obesity calculated according the cut-off proposed by IOTF. Prevalences of nutritional status were estimated.
Results:
Comparison of the two cities revealed significant χ² values for the indicators of nutritional status analysed. Puerto Madryn had higher prevalences of overweight and obesity. General Alvear exhibited higher stunting and underweight values.
Conclusions:
The cities studied are in different stages of nutritional transition. Puerto Madryn is undergoing growing industrialization and urbanization and thus exhibits characteristics typical of an 'obesogenic' environment. General Alvear, a less complex urban centre, where some cultural patterns related to an agrarian way of life appear to have been retained, is situated at a less advanced stage.
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