Nutritional anthropometry: Diet and health‐related correlates among preschool children in Bogotá, Colombia†

Abstract

Nutritional anthropometry measurements were applied in the assessment of nutritional status of preschool children attending a health center in a poor area of Bogotá, Colombia. Results showed that weight for age was the most adversely affected nutritional indicator among the group of children, followed by weight for height, height for age and head circumference. Intercorrelations between the four anthropometric measurements show that weight for height was poorly correlated with height for age and head circumference suggesting independency among these variables. When nutritional status of the children was evaluated utilizing Gomez's criteria (weight for age) the prevalence of malnutrition was 62 percent, while a decrease to 42 percent was observed when Mora's criteria (weight for height) was applied. This result seems to indicate that certain proportion of the malnourished children evaluated by Gomez's standards may have been chronic, past “recovered” malnourished cases, while those classified by Mora's method may have been either chronic unrecovered or acute cases, or a combination of both. Explanations of the nutritional status of the children were attempted by analyzing relationships with demographic, dietary and health related variables. Frequency of diarrhea and fever, and food deprivation during diarrhea appear to be the most closely related to malnutrition. The number of children under five years of age and lack of breast feeding also correlated significantly with the child's nutritional status. Among the dietary variables studied, the quantity of milk consumed seemed to be a promising indicator of nutritional status among that particular group of children.