| Popis: |
Background: As Bogotá is one of the regions with the highest prevalence of chronic malnutrition (13%) in Colombia, exceeding the national figure of 10.8%, a public-private alliance was established to address this situation within the framework of intersectoral action: the private organizations Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá and Fundación Éxito, local government agencies of the Mayor's Office of Bogotá (Secretaría Distrital de Salud and the Secretariat de Integración Social) and agencies at the national level (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar [Colombian Institute of Family Welfare], including its regional office in Bogotá). Therefore, the objective was to determine the effectiveness of an intersectoral public health intervention with the population under one year of age, classified as at risk of chronic malnutrition and with chronic malnutrition by anthropometry, residing in 3 prioritized territories of the Capital District. Methods: Pre-experimental, before and after study that sought to determine the magnitude of the change in nutritional status in children under one-year-old residing in 3 prioritized territories of Bogotá through a ten months public health nutrition intervention. Results: The intervention comprised 1126 children living in the following territories in Bogotá: Kennedy, San Cristóbal, and Engativá. A total of 43.3% children presented delay in height for age, and 56.7% presented risk of short stature. In the final measurement, data were obtained from 686 children, identifying that 17% of the children progressed from stunting to a stunting risk and that 4.5% recovered their growth trajectory, achieving an adequate height for their age. Conclusions: That children classified as at risk or stunting at the beginning of the intervention showed an increased probability of approaching or being in the appropriate growth trajectory according to the height-for-age indicator after the intervention. In addition, the risk of stunting is a reversible condition if interventions are implemented in a timely manner and with intersectoral action for which it is imperative to link the community itself as a key sector for direct action and to organize all actors and sectors having missionary purposes with this population. |
