Evaluación nutricional a niños(as) del Centro de desarrollo infantil solidario 27 de febrero y capacitación a sus padres, Cuenca 2010

Abstract

BACKGROUND In the city of Cuenca there are seven supportive childcare centers which are conformed by approximately 74 children each one. They were put into a research process to evaluate the nutritional status of all the children. The objectives of this research project were: to evaluate the nutritional status, to apply the nutrition surveys to the parents in order to know about the food handling of the children and also to train the parents in order to improve the growth and development of the boys and girls with problems. METHOD For the nutritional evaluation the following indicators were used P/T, T/E and P/E. We compared the results obtained with the body mass indicator (IMC) and a dietetics survey. RESULTS Applying the indicators, we obtained the following percentages: 55% are normal, 21% have chronic malnutrition, 15% have chronic and acute malnutrition, 6% have acute malnutrition and 2% have chronic malnutrition with overweight. The IMC reflects that 68% of the children are normal, 19% have mild malnutrition, 4% have moderate malnutrition, 7% are overweight and 2% have obesity. The results found in the weekly and weekend intakes demonstrate that there is an excess of proteins and calories and a deficit of fats and carbohydrates. This training allowed the parents to strengthen their knowledge. This study provides evidence which demonstrates that chronic malnutrition is still affecting our country. Key words: nutritional status, food handling, training