Caracterização do estado nutricional e prevalência de anemia entre crianças de 6 meses a 5 anos de idade, na cidade de Mirabela- MG, na área urbana e rural

Abstract

Childhood is the most vulnerable phase of the life cycle, in which children experience rapid growth and nutritional status directly influences their development. At this stage, the child needs a good nutritional intake to achieve adequate growth. Because, in this phase, the demand for micronutrients is increased, mainly for iron, due to the growth period. At this stage, eating habits are also formed that can accompany the child into adulthood. Therefore, identifying the nutritional status of children is important to avoid nutritional deviations such as low weight, anemia, obesity among children. This work aimed to survey the nutritional status of children aged between 06 months and 5 years, enrolled in the ESF Family Health Strategies in the municipality of Mirabela-MG, in urban and rural areas. For this, 301 families registered in the ESF were asked about their sociodemographic characteristics, using a standardized and adapted socioeconomic questionnaire; the consumption of food sources of iron, through the application of a food frequency questionnaire; anthropometric assessment of the children, performed by measuring the weight and measuring the height of the children. And finally, to check the prevalence of anemia among children, blood tests were performed to find out iron levels. Of the results, 29% of the children were overweight. Of the sociodemographic variables, participation in a social program was related to the nutritional status of children. Low consumption of foods such as lettuce, beets, meat, fish and steak were associated with low levels of hemoglobin and iron in c hildren. The results are important in the context of primary care, since it is the most vulnerable phase of the life cycle and an age group that must be monitored.