Estado nutricional segun referencias OMS 2007 y local en escolares de la provincia de Morona Santiago, Ecuador - 2024

Abstract

Nutritional assessment is an essential process for identifying malnutrition, particularly in vulnerable populations such as children. During growthand development, children are at a higher risk of experiencing various forms of malnutrition, whether due to deficiencies (undernutrition) or excesses (overweight and obesity). To analyze the level of concordance in nutritional status according to WHO 2007 standards and local references for schoolchildren in the province of Morona Santiago, Ecuador 2024. An observational, retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was obtained from a public database provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), comprising a population of 11,566 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years (5,896 boys and 5,670 girls). To evaluate and compare nutritional status according to national references and WHO 2007 standards, IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 was used. The WHO reports a prevalence of severe underweight of 14.6%, whereas national data show only 1.1%; the general underweight prevalenceis 67.2% according to WHO, compared to 7.5% nationally. Obesity is reported at 7.1% by WHO and 17.5% nationally, with severe obesity at 0% according to WHO and 8.0% in national data. Regarding height, the normal height category is 54.0% in WHO data versus 63.1% nationally, and verytall height is 5.7% according to WHO compared to 1.6% nationally. Kappa indices indicate weak concordance for weight (0.358) and very weak for height (0.248), reflecting significant differences between international and national evaluations. The results reveal significant discrepan-cies between national data and international WHO standards, with notable differences in the prevalence of malnutrition, weight, and height among children. Keywords: Nutritional Status; Child Nutrition Disorders; Body Mass Index; Reference Standards.