Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries
Objective. To analyze the effects of socioeconomic, regional, and ethnic conditions on chronic malnutrition in four Andean countries of South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Methods. The study was based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Colombia (1995), Peru (1996), and Boli...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:656528df867e4de5aa48a60bddcfb37b 2023-05-15T15:16:53+02:00 Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries Carlos Larrea Wilma Freire 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 https://doaj.org/article/656528df867e4de5aa48a60bddcfb37b EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892002000500010&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 1020-4989 doi:10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 https://doaj.org/article/656528df867e4de5aa48a60bddcfb37b Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 11, Iss 5-6, Pp 356-364 (2002) Equity malnutrition nutritional status poverty socioeconomic factors Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2002 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 2022-12-31T12:11:54Z Objective. To analyze the effects of socioeconomic, regional, and ethnic conditions on chronic malnutrition in four Andean countries of South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Methods. The study was based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Colombia (1995), Peru (1996), and Bolivia (1997), and on a Living Standard Measurement Survey for Ecuador (1998). We developed an index of household socioeconomic status using categorical principal components analysis. We broke down the prevalence of stunting by socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, place of residence (large cities, small cities, towns, and countryside), and region (highland region versus other areas of the country). We applied smoothed regression curves and linear functions to analyze SES effects on stunting, with specific models for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Results. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru have similar characteristics, with high stunting prevalences overall; higher stunting prevalences in their highland areas, particularly among indigenous populations; and strong socioeconomic disparities. Colombia, in contrast, has a lower stunting prevalence and smaller regional disparities. The socioeconomic gradient of stunting is strong in all four countries, with prevalence rates in the poorest deciles at least three times as high as those in the top decile. Discussion. The sharp contrast between the conditions found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru and those in Colombia may be the result of specific ethnic factors affecting indigenous groups; a particular diet profile in the highland areas, with low protein and micronutrient intake; and differences in the long-term economic and social development paths that the countries have taken. Along with the strong socioeconomic gradient in all the countries, the weight of ethnic and regional factors suggests the need to reduce inequality as well as to comprehensively improve education and housing, better target health and nutrition programs, and implement participatory programs integrated into ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública 11 5-6 356 364 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
Equity malnutrition nutritional status poverty socioeconomic factors Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Equity malnutrition nutritional status poverty socioeconomic factors Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Carlos Larrea Wilma Freire Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
topic_facet |
Equity malnutrition nutritional status poverty socioeconomic factors Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Objective. To analyze the effects of socioeconomic, regional, and ethnic conditions on chronic malnutrition in four Andean countries of South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Methods. The study was based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Colombia (1995), Peru (1996), and Bolivia (1997), and on a Living Standard Measurement Survey for Ecuador (1998). We developed an index of household socioeconomic status using categorical principal components analysis. We broke down the prevalence of stunting by socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, place of residence (large cities, small cities, towns, and countryside), and region (highland region versus other areas of the country). We applied smoothed regression curves and linear functions to analyze SES effects on stunting, with specific models for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Results. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru have similar characteristics, with high stunting prevalences overall; higher stunting prevalences in their highland areas, particularly among indigenous populations; and strong socioeconomic disparities. Colombia, in contrast, has a lower stunting prevalence and smaller regional disparities. The socioeconomic gradient of stunting is strong in all four countries, with prevalence rates in the poorest deciles at least three times as high as those in the top decile. Discussion. The sharp contrast between the conditions found in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru and those in Colombia may be the result of specific ethnic factors affecting indigenous groups; a particular diet profile in the highland areas, with low protein and micronutrient intake; and differences in the long-term economic and social development paths that the countries have taken. Along with the strong socioeconomic gradient in all the countries, the weight of ethnic and regional factors suggests the need to reduce inequality as well as to comprehensively improve education and housing, better target health and nutrition programs, and implement participatory programs integrated into ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Carlos Larrea Wilma Freire |
author_facet |
Carlos Larrea Wilma Freire |
author_sort |
Carlos Larrea |
title |
Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
title_short |
Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
title_full |
Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
title_fullStr |
Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
title_full_unstemmed |
Social inequality and child malnutrition in four Andean countries |
title_sort |
social inequality and child malnutrition in four andean countries |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 https://doaj.org/article/656528df867e4de5aa48a60bddcfb37b |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 11, Iss 5-6, Pp 356-364 (2002) |
op_relation |
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892002000500010&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 1020-4989 doi:10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 https://doaj.org/article/656528df867e4de5aa48a60bddcfb37b |
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https://doi.org/10.1590/s1020-49892002000500010 |
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Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública |
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11 |
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5-6 |
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356 |
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364 |
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