Nutritional status and anemia in children of the Shuar ethnic group A single-center observational study

Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional status is a health condition that assesses nutritional pathologies such as anemia and malnutrition in vulnerable age groups. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between nutritional status and anemia in the Shuar population from 6 months to 5 years of age from the Shimpis Community, Logroño Canton, Morona Santiago-Ecuador, from August 2018-August 2019.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study. A total of 235 samples and 163 samples were taken from Epi Info. The data were obtained from medical records and the Nutritional Food Surveillance System, and nutritional status was analyzed using WHO Anthro software. Anemia was based on hemoglobin reference values established by the World Organization and the Ministry of Public Health. The data were tabulated in the statistical program SPSS 25. Simple tables of frequency and percentage were made, and tables of association considering P value <0.05 statistically significant.

Results: A total of 163 children were included, 46.0% men and 54% women, and the predominant age group was 2-5 years, with a percentage of 56.4%. The anemia frequency was 38%. There were 42 children with anemia and chronic malnutrition, 10 with acute malnutrition, 3 with global malnutrition, 2 with overweight, and 5 with eutrophy. When relating both variables, a statistically significant p-value was obtained (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Age group is a predisposing factor in the alteration of nutritional status in children. It was also observed that altered nutritional status has a greater predisposition to anemia.