Child undernutrition in Brazil: the wound that never healed.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the scenario of child undernutrition in Brazil and its determinants. DATA SOURCE: Narrative review of the literature with inclusion of data from population surveys, surveillance and monitoring systems, and active search in favelas and underserved communities carried out by CREN. DATA SYNTHESIS: Household surveys carried out from 1974 to 2019 indicate that undernutrition (<5 years) decreased until 2006. Underweight (W/A ≤-2 Z) and stunting (H/A ≤-2 Z) showed a decrease of 17% to 3% and 37% to 7%, respectively. After 2006, there was an increase in underweight of 53% and 76% for wasting (BMI/A ≤-2 Z), with the prevalence of stunting being stagnant at around 7%. Active search data in favelas and underserved communities show that the prevalence of stunting is 11% in those <5 years. In 2021, 30% of the population lived in poverty, 73% of which were black or brown. Stunting in black and brown children <5 years old is, respectively, 9% and 12% higher when compared to white children. Poverty decreased between 2012 and 2015 (27 to 25%), but increased again (2016=26% to 2021=30%), in parallel with food insecurity, which decreased between 2004 and 2013 (12% to 6%), but reached its worst level in the historical series (2022:15%). CONCLUSION: Despite advances, Brazil's social protection system was not able to reduce inequalities and the reversal of the trend towards decreasing child undernutrition could be observed from 2006 onwards.

Energy Intake in Socially Vulnerable Women Living in Brazil: Assessment of the Accuracy of Two Methods of Dietary Intake Recording Using Doubly Labeled Water.

BACKGROUND: Diet is related to the prevention of chronic diseases, but assessing dietary intake is a complex task, especially in socially vulnerable populations. OBJECTIVES: To assess the accuracy of the 24-hour food recall (24HFR) and the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) methods in socially vulnerable women in Brazil and compare these methods against doubly labeled water (DLW). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Energy intake (EI) was measured using 3 24HFRs and 1 FFQ. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was measured using DLW. Cutoff points were calculated to assess underreporting and overreporting using both the difference and the ratio between the EI and TEE. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Sixty-seven socially vulnerable, nondieting adult women with stable body weight and mothers of malnourished children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: EI, in kilocalories, derived from 24HFR and FFQ. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare EI and TEE and Bland-Altman graphs were plotted to assess the agreement between these variables. Spearman correlation coefficient between the ratio of EI to TEE and socioeconomic or anthropometric variables was calculated. RESULTS: Mean TEE was 2,186 kcal (95% CI 2,063 to 2,309 kcal). EI obtained through 24HFR (mean=1,848.6 kcal [95% CI 1,737.5 to 1,959.7 kcal]) was significantly lower than TEE (P=0.01), and significantly lower than the EI obtained through FFQ (mean=2,084.5 [95% CI 1,929.0 to 2,240.0 kcal]; P<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between the EI values of FFQ and TEE (P=0.89). The distribution of underreporters, nonunderreporters, and overreporters were more homogenous in the FFQ method. There was a positive correlation between body fat percentage and underreporting in the FFQ method (r=0.245; P=0.046). CONCLUSIONS: The methods of assessing dietary intake in our study showed poor agreement with TEE obtained by DLW. These may, therefore, not be the most suitable methods for assessing EI in this population.

Association between Adult Stature and Energy Expenditure in Low-Income Women from Northeastern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal undernutrition may lead to important metabolic adaptations in adult life, short stature being the most visible. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between stature and total energy expenditure of low-income women. METHOD: Women aged 19-45 years from low-income communities in Maceió-AL were recruited. A sample of 67 volunteers was selected and divided into either short stature (≤ 152.4 cm; n = 34) or non-short stature (≥ 158.7 cm; n = 33) group. Data on socioeconomic status, anthropometric variables, and hormonal profiles was collected. Total energy expenditure and body composition were assessed by the doubly labeled water technique with multiple points over 14 days. In addition, physical activity levels were measured with triaxial accelerometers and dietary intake data were collected using three 24-hour food records. RESULTS: The mean subject age was 30.94 years. Women of short stature had lower body weight and lean body mass compared to non-short women, but there were no differences in thyroid hormone concentrations or daily energy intake between the two groups. Short-stature women showed lower total energy expenditure (P = 0.01) and a significantly higher physical activity level (P = 0.01) compared to non-short women. However, the difference in total energy expenditure was no longer significant after statistical adjustment for age, lean body mass, and triiodothyronine concentrations. CONCLUSION: Women with short stature present the same energy intake, but lower total energy expenditure than non-short women, even with a higher physical activity level, which suggests that they are more prone to weight gain.

Estado nutricional, condições socioeconômicas, ambientais e de saúde de crianças moradoras em cortiços e favela / Nutritional status and health, environmental and socioeconomic conditions of children living in tenements and shanty towns

OBJETIVO: Comparar a freqüência da desnutrição entre crianças de 6 meses a 6 anos, moradoras em cortiços e favela, da região central de São Paulo e caracterizar as diferenças das condições socioeconômicas, ambientais e de saúde dos dois grupos. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se estudo transversal com 86 crianças moradoras em cortiços e 84 crianças residentes na favela e respectivas famílias. Classificou-se a desnutrição segundo os índices estatura/idade, peso/idade e peso/estatura, ponto de corte <-1 e <-2 escore-Z, comparados ao padrão National Center for Health Statistics. Os dados socioeconômicos, ambientais e de saúde foram coletados com a aplicação de um questionário durante as visitas domiciliares. Para analisar os dados utilizaram-se o teste do qui-quadrado e o teste t de Student ou o teste Mann-Whitney com nível de significância 5 por cento. RESULTADOS: A proporção da desnutrição leve foi duas vezes maior nas crianças moradoras em favela em relação às residentes nos cortiços e quatro vezes maior para desnutrição moderada. Com relação às variáveis pesquisadas, as famílias moradoras em favela apresentaram piores condições quanto a: renda, despesas com alimentação, trabalho, condições de moradia e saneamento (p<0,001). Quanto às condições de saúde observou-se maior ocorrência de diarréia (p=0,003) e menor cobertura vacinal (p<0,001) entre as crianças moradoras em favela. CONCLUSÃO: A freqüência da desnutrição nas crianças da favela estudada foi maior do que a encontrada nos cortiços e as famílias moradoras na favela foram consideradas extremamente pobres, com condições socioeconômicas e ambientais piores do que nos cortiços, evidenciando aspectos da pobreza urbana ligados à desnutrição infantil.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to compare malnutrition rates among children aged from 6 months to 6 years living in tenements and shanty towns in downtown São Paulo city and characterize the differences in the socioeconomic, environmental and health conditions of the two groups. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done with 86 children living in tenements and 84 children living in shanty towns and their respective families. Malnutrition was classified according to their height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height indices when compared with those of the National Center for Health Statistics. Z-scores < -1 and < -2 were used as the cut-off points of malnutrition. Socioeconomic, environmental and health data were collected by administering a questionnaire during home visits. Data were analyzed by applying the chi-square, Student's t or Mann-Whitney tests. The significance level was set at 5 percent. RESULTS: Mild malnutrition rate was two times higher in children living in shanty towns than in those living in tenements and moderate malnutrition rate was four times higher. Regarding the analyzed variables, dwellers of shanty towns had lower incomes, spent less on food and had worse jobs and living and sanitary conditions (p<0.001). Diarrhea was more frequent (p=0.003) and vaccination rates were lower (p<0.001) among children living in shanty towns. CONCLUSION: The rate of malnutrition found for children living in the studied shanty town was higher than that found for children living in tenements. Families living in shanty towns were considered extremely poor, with worse socioeconomic and environmental conditions than those living in tenements, evidencing aspects of urban poverty associated with childhood malnutrition.