The study conducted in the rural area of the province of Imbabura included a total of 518 families that when compared with the estimated sample of 96%, 42.7 % corresponding to the indigenous ethnic group, 28.15% to Black and 25% to mixed-race ethnic groups, these differences of involvement between ethnic groups is due to the fact that the indigenous population is greater than the two remaining populations. Of the 518 families studied they were able to obtain a total of 794 children younger than 5, in which 48.5% pertaining to the male sex and 51.4% to the female sex. In linking the number of participating families and the number of children studied we were able to find that mothers have 1 to 2 children younger than the age of 5 in every family. In evaluating the nutritional state of the 794 studied children, 47.09% were found to have global malnutrition (P/E), 67.26% presented a chronic malnutrition that is to say a lower height for their age, whereas 13.97% presented an acute malnutrition, a percentage that doesn’t attract attention due to what I have already noted previously with children presenting low height and weight for their age when using the indicated weight/height, the nutritional state of the children is appropriate. The nutritional state of children under the age of 5, by considering the indicators of weight/age and height/age, identified the indigenous ethnicity having major problems of malnutrition (54% and 80.97%) respectively, while the two remaining ethnic groups have presented similar percentages. The opposite occurs with the indicator of weight/height, which detected that the Black ethnic group presented a major nutritional deterioration (24%) unlike the other two ethnic groups, we believe that this difference is due to indigenous children presenting a diminished height, consequently when we use the indicator of weight/height, an adequate weight for height is presented. According to the magnitude of diarrheal processes we find that 28.34% of children presented EDA, the indigenous ethnicity being that with the highest percentage (12.84%) in relation to the other two ethnic groups. According to the severity of the diarrheal processes, light EDA presents the highest percentage with 62.67%, with the indigenous ethnicity being affected the most, moderate EDA presents a 34.22% similarly affecting the indigenous ethnicity and severe EDA presents a 3.11% with the mixed-race ethnicity being the most affected. Relating the nutritional state with acute diarrheal illnesses, considering the indicators of weight/age and height/age, we find that the indigenous population is mostly affected in nutritional state as well as in the presence of EDA. Malnourished children present a higher number of diarrheal processes. Considering the indicator of weight/height, diarrhea is more frequent in children with a normal nutritional state, with the Black ethnicity that which presents the greater percentage of EDA in normal and malnourished children. For this reason, it is urgent that national programs of health and alimentation are defined and implemented in order to combat the nutritional problem and ensure an adequate supply of food for the whole population, improving the conditions of health and environmental sanitation in order to reduce the high rates of malnutrition, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-6443 |
| Date | 01 January 1999 |
| Creators | Vaca, Tanya |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Coverage | Imbabura (Ecuador) |
| Rights | http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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