Nutritional status of school-aged children of Buenos Aires, Argentina: data using three references.

BACKGROUND: Childhood overweight has been reported in developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a standardized classification system in order to facilitate comparison across countries and studies. This study aims to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and thinness in a group of 10-11-year-old children using three references [the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 2000, the the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) 2000 and the WHO, 2007]. METHODS: A representative sample of 1588 children (771 boys and 817 girls) resulted from the randomization of 80 public schools from Buenos Aires. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight, including obesity, for the whole sample was 35.5, 27.9 and 27.9%, respectively, depending on the reference used. For overweight, no gender differences were observed regardless of the reference used. Obesity was significantly more frequent among boys, and this remained consistent for the three references. Thinness frequency was 1.6 and 2.5% for the boys and 2.7 and 4.5% for the girls when considering the WHO and CDC cut-off points, respectively, and frequency increased in both boys and girls for each age group. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of overweight and obese cases among school-aged children of Buenos Aires regardless of the reference used. Epidemiological data provided by this study suggests the urgent need to design preventive interventions.

[Importance of the benzylpenicillin nucleus and the side chain of the beta-lactams. Demonstration by skin tests and RAST in penicillin allergic patients]. / Importancia del núcleo bencilpenicilina y las cadenas laterales de los beta-lactámicos. Demostración por pruebas cutáneas y RAST en pacientes alérgicos a Penicilina.

We studied 30 patients with beta-Lactams allergy demonstrated by clinical findings. The aim of this work was to determine the capacity of the beta-Lactams nucleus and the side chain in the induction of specific IgE to BPO, Ax, Amp, performed by intradermal skin test and RAST. The patients were divided by clinical manifestations in: 1-Accelerated reactions (n:19); and 2-Immediate reactions (n:11). The Prick tests were performed with BPO-PL, Ax-PL, Amp-PL, MDM-BP, MDM-Ax, MDM-Amp. The accelerated group presented BPO-PL (+) in 2 cases, Ax-PL & Amp-PL (+) in 4 cases, and all of the reactives were (+) in 13 out of 19 cases. The immediate group presented MDM-BP (+) in 10 out of 11 cases and MDM-Amp was (+) in 1 out of 11 cases. The RAST's were performed in all patients(n:30). In accelerated group were (+) to BPO-PL in 13 out of 19 cases, to Ax-PL in 3 out of 19 cases, to Amp-PL in 1 out 19 cases, to BPO-PL and Ax-PL on overlap in 1 out of 19 cases, and 1 case was negative to all reactives. The immediate group presented RAST's negatives in 11 out of 11 cases. The control group(n:20) presented Prick (+) to Ax-PL in 1 out of 20 cases, and the others reactives were negatives in all cases. The RAST's to all reactives were (-) in 20 out of 20 subjects. These results indicate that BPO was the most important determinant, and the side chain of the Ax or Amp were others determinants of the beta-Lactams drugs. These determinants induced specific IgE, and in rare occasions appears specific IgE for two different determinants on overlap in the same patient. The intradermal skin testing is the method of choice to study the penicillin allergies, because non satisfactory RAST's have yet been developed for minor determinant-specific IgE antibodies.