Homes for the migrants: the pueblos jovenes of Lima--a study of socioeconomic determinants of child malnutrition.

The family ecology of 68 preschool children attending a health care center in a pueblo joven (low-income peripheral settlement) of Lima, Perú, was investigated to determine its bearing on their nutritional status. Some of the variables studied included family income, income available to mothers, household composition, migratory history of mothers, child feeding practices and housing conditions. Nutritional status of the children was assessed through anthropometric and dietary means. Results indicated that chronic malnutrition was widespread. Breast-feeding was common, but the weaning diets had little diversity and low-caloric value. The family diet relied heavily on soups and starchy foodstuffs, and children participated fully in the family meals by the age of two. Child growth was negatively correlated with the number of preschool children and birth order, and positively correlated with income spent on water. In its turn, the children's diet was positively correlated with the income available to the mothers and the income spent on food.