[Factors associated with acute malnutrition in migrating pre-school children from the sugar cane region of Jalisco]

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the association between socioeconomic, environmental, feeding and individual factors involved in the acute malnutrition of the migrating pre-schooler. A comparative, transversal, observational study was conducted in 511 children between the ages of 1 and 5 from child care centers in the Jalisco sugar cane area. Using anthropometric indicators, classified according to Waterlow, their nutritional state was evaluated. The prevalence of the malnutrition was 79.0 per 100 preschoolers (68.1% adapted, 21.5% acutely chronic and 10.4% acute). Those factors associated with acute malnutrition included: a family income of less than the established minimum wage (O.R. = 6.32, P = 0.00), a lesser amount with an acute pathology (O.R. = 3.34, P = 0.00) and being a year old (O.R. = 2.22, P = 0.01). Significant differences were found among children of parents who: did not have an education (P = 0.04) and who were sugar cane cutters (P = 0.05). The findings identify risk factors for acute malnutrition, probably modifiable using nutritional epidemiological surveillance strategies.