Resumen

MARTINEZ, Jesús Javier et al. Evaluación nutricional de la población menor de 18 años de la comunidad rural del Limón, parroquia Carayaca, estado Vargas. AVFT [online]. 2007, vol.26, n.1, pp.46-48. ISSN 0798-0264.

Introduction. The malnutrition is a problem of Public Health in Venezuela by its high magnitude, importance, potential of impact and vulnerability; its study in our population is of great importance, and in special, the rural population, since this is to the margin of the attention of the National System of Health. Methods. It was made analytical study of observation of cross-sectional type, where a sample was taken nonprobabilistic of random type of 179 individuals of the rural locality of the Lemon - Edo. Vargas, during the months January - March 2005. On which it was made the anthropometric evaluation and the nutritional diagnosis of the same one. Results.  In the present investigation we observed that 7.89% (14) of the smaller population of 18 years present/display overweight, 59.77% (107) is with normal nutritional diagnosis, 3.35% (6) with acute undernourishment and 29.05% (52) with chronic undernourishment. 32.40% (58) present/display undernourishment, whereas 40.29% (62) of the population study object present/display malnutrition. Discussion. The Lemon presents/displays a high prevalence of acute and chronic undernourishment when comparing the results obtained with the values observed in Latin America, in where we have the retardation of the growth is of 9.3% and the emaciation is of 2.9% (5). Also we observed that the obtained numbers are over smaller the national statistics of global undernourishment of 2 years (11.7%), 2 to 6 years (22.4%) and of 7 to 14 years (24.4%) (6) Conclusions. In the made investigation we detected that almost half of the smaller population of 18 years of the rural community of the Lemon presents/displays some class of malnutrition, or by deficit or excess.

Palabras clave : undernourishment; malnutrition; prevalence.