Estado nutricional, desarrollo madurativo y sufrimiento mental en niños, niñas y adolescentes de comunidades cercanas al proyecto megaminero "fruta del norte" en comparación con comunidades de mineria artesanal

Abstract

The study proposes an analysis of the nutritional conditions, maturity development and the emotional state of the children and adolescents (NNA) that live in Ecuadorian communities of artisanal mining; in comparison with the children and adolescents of the communities located in the area of influence of the mega mining project “Fruta del Norte”, managed by the multinational Kinross-Aurelian. This project is currently in the phase of ‘advanced exploration’. A non-experimental analytic design was applied to the universe of selected populations. The research was divided into two components. The first component characterized by small mining communities in comparison with a big scale mining communities determining differential patterns of exposure through a semi structured interview applied during an assembly in each community. The second component used an anthropometric evaluation, Bender visualmotor tests and Sacks test, to evaluate all of the NNA at the selected communities. While not significant differences were found in the nutritional conditions, an increase of emotional disorders and evolutionary developmental deficiencies among the children and adolescents of the communities close to the mega mining project. The research concludes that the conditions of the social tissue rupture and the increases of community conflicts which were attributed to the presence of the multinational are determinants of health impacts