Instrucción materna y condiciones de salud en niños desnutridos de la plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

We analyze the association of maternal instruction and health conditions of undernourished children within the Integral Assistance Program developed by the Nutritional Rehabilitation Unit of La Plata Children Hospital (NRU). 17om the population attended at the NRU, between March and November, 1998, 82 0-4 year old children with primary undernutrition were selected. The parameters assessed were weight/age, weight height, and height/age, following the national reference tables. At admission, the following characteristics were taken into account: birth weight, period of breast feed, vaccine scheme fulfilled, presence of diseases, and previous hospitalizations. From the mothers social and economical survey, the mother instruction was selected as an independent variable for this study, in order to check if it has the same relevance in children health conditions that the one found in population studies. The values obtained for these parameters are compared with population data, and with those values established as a national goal. The group under study presents early postnatal undernutrition, weak or moderate; 32% of them received breast feed as exclusive food up to the fourth month. The number of previous diseases is high, with 50% of hospitalization and incomplete vaccine scheme. However, confronting the proposed hypothesis, the association of this variable with the specific characteristics of children health evaluated at admission does not show statistically significant differences within the group under study.