Comercio internacional y crecimiento económico: ¿cómo influyen en el hambre de América Latina? / International commerce and economic growth: what is the influence in Latin America?

Dos de las recetas que se plantean en el espectro político para fomentar el desarrollo económico y social son el impulso del crecimiento económico y el comercio internacional. Ante este contexto, una mayor comprensión de la influencia del comercio internacional y el crecimiento económico en la desnutrición en América Latina sería necesaria, y este es el objetivo que, a partir de la bibliografía disponible, pretende abordar este trabajo. Con respecto al combate de la desnutrición, ambas recetas son insuficientes por separado, y la mejora de los índices de desnutrición en la región latinoamericana debe de ir acompañadas de medidas que permitan que el comercio y el crecimiento beneficie a los más desfavorecidos (AU)

Two of the solutions that governments propose in order to foster economic and social development are economic growth and international commerce. In this context, a greater understanding of the influence of international commerce and economic growth in undernutrition in Latin America would be necessary; this is the objective of this paper, that we achieve thanks to the bibliography available. Concerning the fight to undernutrition, both solutions separately are not enough, and the improvement of undernutrition indexes in Latin America should be accompanied with measures that allow the deprived people to benefit from commerce and growth (AU)

[Prediction of the nutritional status by anthropometrical variables and food safety at homes of pregnant women from Caracas, Venezuela]. / Predicción del estado nutricional mediante variables antropométricas y de seguridad alimentaria en el hogar de un grupo de embarazadas de Caracas, Venezuela.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to analyze the nutritional status and household food security of a sample of healthy pregnant women who attend to external medicine service at Concepcion Palacios Maternity located in Caracas, Venezuela, and identify variables, which could predict the nutritional status of the evaluated group. METHOD: This cross sectional, descriptive, comparative study evaluates a sample of 89 pregnant women, between 14 and 44 years of age. Economical, social, demographic and alimentary consumption variables and nutritional conditions were studied. On the way, anthropometrics like weight, height, and middle-arm circumference and Household food security scale were obtained. In order to perform the descriptive statistic, bivariate, and multiple linear regression analysis required during the investigation, the software SPSS, version 12, was used. RESULTS: The predictive variables considered for the evaluation of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women were: right middle-arm circumference, household food security level and the supplementation with vitamins and/or minerals. These variables explain 78.2% of the actual nutritional status variation in this sample. Therefore, this investigation highlights the importance of the research on simple variables, as a good prediction of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women, with acceptable precision values and without requiring high-trained personnel to perform it. Under these findings, is very important the study of more predictive variables to evaluate the nutritional and alimentary conditions, with practical and easy mechanisms that can be applied by non-technical personnel. CONCLUSION: It is recommended to go deep into the study of methods, which evaluate the nutrition in an easy and practical way, applied by non-technical personnel, besides continuing the validation process of the variable combinations determined as predictive of the nutritional status.

Predicción del estado nutricional mediante variables antropométricas y de seguridad alimentaria en el hogar de un grupo de embarazadas de Caracas, Venezuela / Prediction of the nutritional status by anthropometrical variables and food safety at homes of pregnant women from Caracas, Venezuela

Objetivo: Evaluar el estado nutricional y el nivel de Seguridad Alimentaria en el Hogar de una muestra de embarazadas aparentemente sanas en la Maternidad Concepción Palacios de Caracas, Venezuela e identificar las variables que pudieran predecir el estado nutricional del grupo de embarazadas evaluadas. Métodos: La investigación fue transversal, descriptiva y comparativa. Se seleccionó 89 embarazadas entre los 14 y 44 años de edad de la consulta externa prenatal. Se midieron variables económicas, sociales, demográficas y alimentario-nutricionales, entre las que destacan el nivel de Seguridad Alimentaria en el Hogar y variables antropométricas como peso, talla y circunferencia media de brazo que permitieron construir indicadores para evaluar el estado nutricional materno. Se realizó análisis estadístico descriptivo, bivariado y de regresión múltiple, con el programa SPSS, versión 12. Resultados: Las variables que predicen el estado nutricional actual de la muestra de embarazadas fueron circunferencia media de brazo derecho, nivel de seguridad alimentaría en el hogar y suplementación con vitaminas y/o minerales. Estas variables predicen el 78,2% de la variación del estado nutricional actual en esta muestra. Este estudio permitió reconocer la importancia del uso de variables sencillas, para ser utilizadas por personal levemente capacitado y predecir el estado nutricional de las embarazadas, lo que contribuye a conocer riesgos alimentario-nutricionales. Conclusiones: Se recomienda profundizar en el estudio de métodos que evalúen la alimentación y nutrición de manera práctica y fácil, aplicables por personal no técnico, además de continuar el proceso de validación de la combinación de las variables determinadas como predictores del estado nutricional materno (AU)

Objective: The objective of this research is to analyze the nutritional status and household food security of a sample of healthy pregnant women who attend to external medicine service at Concepcion Palacios Maternity located in Caracas, Venezuela, and identify variables, which could predict the nutritional status of the evaluated group. Method: This cross sectional, descriptive, comparative study evaluates a sample of 89 pregnant women, between 14 and 44 years of age. Economical, social, demographic and alimentary consumption variables and nutritional conditions were studied. On the way, anthropometrics like weight, height, and middle-arm circumference and Household food security scale were obtained. In order to perform the descriptive statistic, bivariate, and multiple linear regression analysis required during the investigation, the software SPSS, version 12, was used. Results: The predictive variables considered for the evaluation of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women were: right middle-arm circumference, household food security level and the supplementation with vitamins and/or minerals. These variables explain 78,2% of the actual nutritional status variation in this sample. Therefore, this investigation highlights the importance of the research on simple variables, as a good prediction of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women, with acceptable precision values and without requiring high trained personnel to perform it. Under these findings, is very important the study of more predictive variables to evaluate the nutritional and alimentary conditions, with practical and easy mechanisms that can be applied by non-technical personnel. Conclusion: It is recommended to go deep into the study of methods, which evaluate the nutrition in an easy and practical way, applied by non-technical personnel, besides continuing the validation process of the variable combinations determined as predictive of the nutritional status (AU)

Diversidad alimentaria y factores asociados en beneficiarios de 77 multihogares de cuidado diario: región central de Venezuela / Dietary diversity and associated factors among beneficiaries of 77 child care centers: Central Regional, Venezuela

The aim of this study was to estimate household measure diet quality, using a dietary diversity score, and its associated demographic and socio-economic factors. One hundred fifty three households representatives of the Capital District and Miranda State belonging of seventy seven day care children centers were studied. To gather data on dietary diversity, we used the food register method, collecting data on household food availability during a month. Dietary diversity at day care centers of the Capital District was 46 foods differed from that found, in Miranda State was 39 foods (p = 0.005). Likewise it differed in beneficiaries' households of the Capital District was 33 foods compared to those in Miranda State was 25 foods (p = 0.000). There were 13 and 14 foods more between day care centers and the households in both states. State (Capital District or Miranda), money spent on food per person, households size and social level were variables that explained 28.9 per cent of dietary diversity variation in households studied. Households in the Capital District had less members, spent more money on food, and a greater proportion were non-poor compared to those in Miranda. These factors could partially explain differences in diet quality among households in the two States. Whatever perspective studied indicates that the dietary diversity had a statistically significant difference between day care centers and households in states studied. Miranda State was more deficiency than Capital District. Higher dietary diversity reflects a better quality diet at day care centers compared to households studied.