Nutritional status of the Andean population of Puna and Quebrada of Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the nutritional status of the Andean population of Puna and Quebrada of Humahuaca, Jujuy, using anthropometric measurements. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A cross-sectional nutritional survey was carried out in a representative sample (n = 1236) of individuals from these regions. Children aged 2-9 years, adolescents (10-17 years) and adults (>or=18 years; pregnant and lactating women excluded) were considered. Height-for-age, weight-for-height and body mass index (BMI) were calculated in children and adolescents and compared with World Health Organization/National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference standards using Z-scores or percentiles, in order to assess the prevalence of stunting, wasting/thinness and excess weight. In adults, BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip (WHR) ratio were used to identify obesity and central adiposity. RESULTS: Stunting (height-for-age Z-score <-2 standard deviations) and obesity (BMI >or= 95th percentile) were found to be major nutritional problems in children and adolescents. Stunting was prevalent in 10.7% of children and 12.4% of adolescents; 8.2% of children and 3.5% of adolescents were obese. Adults were short (mean: 155.8 cm) and values of overweight (32.3%), obesity (18.3%) and central adiposity (mean WC: 86.5 cm) were high. Older adults and those with higher economic development showed higher prevalence of obesity and central adiposity. CONCLUSIONS: The present population may be at the early stages of nutritional transition as symptoms of undernutrition and overnutrition coexist at the population level. These results suggest that rates of growth retardation may be decreasing owing to improved nutritional conditions; however, this could be accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of other diet-related chronic diseases.

Dietary patterns of the Andean population of Puna and Quebrada of Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina.

The aim of the present study was to describe dietary patterns in a representative sample from Puna and Quebrada of Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina. A cross-sectional nutritional survey was carried out in a representative sample (n 1236) of individuals from these regions. For the present study, only children aged 2-9 years (n 360), adolescents aged 10-18 years (n 223) and adults aged 18 years or over (n 465) were considered. Breast-fed children, pregnant women and lactating women were excluded. Dietary data collection methods comprised one 24 h recall and a semi-quantitative FFQ. We used principal component (PC) analyses to identify prevailing dietary patterns. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the determinants of the identified dietary patterns. Two dominant PC were identified: PC1 reflected a 'Western-like' diet with an emphasis on not-autochthon foods. This pattern tended to be present in urban areas of the Quebrada region and was associated with a younger age, a higher level of development, and a worse diet quality. PC2 reflected an 'Andean-like' diet including a variety of autochthon crops. This was preferred by individuals living in rural areas from Puna with a high level of development during the post-harvest season, and was associated with a greater diet quality. These results suggest that the nutrition transition phenomenon is a reality in certain sectors of this population and might be one of the leading causes of the observed double burden of malnutrition.

Effect of atrial natriuretic peptide on alpha-methyl-D-glucoside intestinal active uptake in rats.

In vivo, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) inhibits water and sodium absorption by the intestine. In addition, ANP inhibits glucose (re)absorption at the level of both the intestine and kidney. ANP also decreases sodium absorption in the rat small intestine in vitro, but only if glucose is present on the luminal side of the tissue. These findings suggest that ANP inhibits the sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) of enterocytes. In the present study the inhibitory effect of 1 microM ANP on SGLT1 in rat small intestine and colon was tested. For this purpose, the apparent kinetic constants of SGLT1 were determined using radioactive alpha-methyl-D-glucoside (alpha-MG), a non-metabolizable glucose analogue that selectively serves the luminal Na+-dependent intestinal uptake, but not the serosal-facilitated diffusion sugar carrier. In both tissues, incubation with ANP increased Km without modifying the Vmax. In addition, Vmax in the small intestine was found to be higher than in the colon. The evidence presented here suggests that ANP, through its second messenger, may be a competitive inhibitor of SGLT1. Since SGLT1 is also expressed in the brush-border membrane of the renal proximal tubule, we suggest that this peptide might regulate the hydro-saline balance at intestinal and proximal tubular nephron levels.