[Poverty, child malnutrition and morbidity in urban area families from Gran La Plata, Buenos Aires]. / Pobreza, desnutrición infantil y morbilidad en familias del área urbana del Gran la Plata, Buenos Aires.

A comparative study was carried out over two samples of 50 families each. Both groups belong to the low income social level from Gran La Plata. One of the groups was made up of families in which at least one child suffer malnutrition. The other group of families did not present children under malnutrition conditions. Differences sociodemographic, economic and environmental factors are identified. At the same time, a strong link between primary malnutrition and an increase in children morbility and mortality was found. The results obtained demonstrate that the lack of programmes that these cases deserve, have a high social and economic cost, as malnutrition treatment demand a higher budget than its prevention.

[Biocultural study of infant malnutrition of primary cause in the urban setting of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina]. / Estudio biocultural de la desnutrición infantil de cause primaria en el ámbito urbano del gran La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The present study, of microsocial nature, attempts to recover the biology-culture unity in the analysis of child undernutrition. A sample was selected of 52 children with primary undernutrition and their families, from the population attending the Nutritional Rehabilitation Unit of La Plata Children Hospital. The specific index was used to measure the low socioeconomic level in families with undernourished children. The mothers were interviewed to obtain information on the perception and recognition of undernutrition. Observation and interviews to the medical staff were performed in ten centers of primary health care (PHC), in order to reveal the medical practices related to this problem. The results obtained showed that the studied families conjugated the most unfavorable life conditions within poverty. Children with adequate weight at birth were nutritionally affected between 3 and 18 months of age, leading to height disorders. The representations and practices sustained by the mothers, relating undernutrition to a popular disease named "pata de cabra" lead to limitations in treatment. In PHC centers, conceptual and operative limitations are recorded for its detection and early treatment. It is concluded that cultural factors present in the two most directly related agents to child health (the mother and the PHC center) do not allow to modify the environmental effects that prematurely affect the children of poverty.