| Autor: |
Berg, Tonia, Zhang, Margaret, Ashaba, Billy, Choi, Wayne, Kasangaki, Alex, Musinguzi, Norman, Meredith, Caitlin, Nambatya, Jackie, Nyairo, Sara, Cannon, Wendy, Macnab, Andrew |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
UBC Medical Journal; Apr2011, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p19-19, 1p |
| Abstrakt: |
Purpose of Study: The current nutritional and environmental status of a nation determine child growth patterns and can predict the health of future generations. Methods Used: Children enrolled in "Brighter Smiles", a collaborative health-promotion program, were evaluated for parameters of growth. Height, weight, head circumference and health data via questionnaire were obtained for children at a primary school in rural Uganda to compare their status to the WHO Child Growth Standard (2006). The WHO Standard uses multiethnic sampling (over 8000 children from 6 countries) to capture the genetic variability among continents to generate a single international growth standard. This growth chart uses the breast fed infant as the new standard of growth and ties physical growth to developmental milestones, allowing for a robust tool against which to measure the world's children. This standard is intended to underscore that differences in nurture, rather than nature, determine disparities in physical growth, and provide a basis for appropriate healthcare policy and intervention. Summary of Results: 233 children (105 males, 128 females), aged between 5-13 years, were evaluated. Amongst the girls 91% were below the 50th centile for height and 90% for weight. Similarly, amongst the boys 89% and 88% were below the 50th centile for height and weight respectively. A high proportion of these children come from single parent or child-headed families (this community was the epicentre for the AIDS epidemic) and poverty, borderline nutrition, malaria, diarrheal disease and parasitic infections are prevalent. Prior research here has also documented that cultural and religious beliefs lead to restricted intake of essential foods, inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals, and infectious diseases commonly exacerbate protein-calorie malnutrition. Conclusions: The finding that such a high percentage of our cohort's children had height and weight below the 50th centile most probably reflects the impact of local social circumstances, sub-optimal nutrition and infectious disease, and indicates the value and potential for the WHO standards to identify where children's growth patterns would benefit from interventions to promote appropriate nurture, and improve health and growth potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
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