Evaluación del estado nutricional en niños de 8 a 10 años que acuden a La Unidad Educativa Tres de Noviembre de la ciudad de Cuenca, 2023

Abstract

Background: Nutrition is a determinant factor in people's health. School-age children are more likely to suffer of malnutrition due to excess and deficit of food, causing poor growth and development, as well as overweight and obesity. Objectives: To determine the nutritional status of school-aged children (8-10 years old) attending the Tres de Noviembre Educational Unit in the city of Cuenca. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study included 110 children. Data processing was done by creating a database using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendency, frequencies, and percentages were employed for analysis. Results: The study showed a predominance of male participants (56%), the average and the most frequent age was 9 years old. In terms of the weight-for-age index, the prevalence of normal weight was the highest (87.3%), followed by overweight (6.4%), obesity (4.5%), and underweight (1.8%). Regarding height-for-age index, the prevalence of normal height was observed in 89.1% of the children, followed by short stature (9.1%) and tall stature (0.9%). Regarding nutritional status, there was a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, with 49.1% (30.9% and 18.2% respectively), followed by normal weight (43.6%), and short stature (7.3%). Conclusions: The study revealed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, followed by normal weight and short stature.