Estado nutricional de escolares del Azuay-Ecuador según referencia local y OMS 2007

Abstract

The research addresses the nutritional status of school children in Azuay, Ecuador, based on local references and WHO 2007 standards. An observational, retrospective and descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 397 schoolchildren. INEC data were used to evaluate the anthropometric indicators of weight and height, applying both WHO 2007 and local references, also IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 software was used for statistical analysis and calculation of the Kappa index to evaluate the concordance between both references. The results showed significant differences between the two references, with a higher prevalence of nutritional problems according to WHO, the concordance between the references was low to moderate, indicating discrepancies in the assessment of height and weight. The study highlights the need to consider multiple references for a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status, the discrepancies identified may influencethe implementation of health policies and programs, underlining the importance of a multidimensional approach to improve the health and well-being of schoolchildren in Azuay. Keywords: Nutritional status, Reference standards; Child; WHO; BMI-age.