FACTORES ASOCIADOS A MALNUTRICIÓN EN ESTUDIANTES DE LA ESCUELA ELOY ALFARO DE LA PARROQUIA RIVERA, CAÑAR, 2017

Abstract

Feeding at school age is key to physical development, but this is conditioned by a number of factors that directly influence it, resulting in malnutrition that can be: excess or deficit. The objective of this research was to assess factors associated with malnutrition in children from 6 to 10 years of age of the Eloy Alfaro school in the Rivera province of Cañar, during the 2016-2017 school year. The anthropometric measurements were made weight and height to calculate the BMI according to the WHO pattern, in addition to validated surveys to stratify the socioeconomic level, physical activity and frequency of food consumption to each legal representative of the children. who participated in this study. A statistically significant association was found between the nutritional status and the study variables such as: age (p = 0.047), sex (p = 0.003), socioeconomic level (p = 0.003), mother's level of education (p = 0.014) and physical activity (p = 0.0001); however, no association was found between the nutritional status and the frequency of food consumption. It was concluded that the main factors associated with nutritional status in the population investigated were socioeconomic status and sedentary lifestyle.