Multiple burdens of malnutrition and relative remoteness in rural Ecuadorian communities.

OBJECTIVE: Social and economic changes associated with new roads can bring about rapid nutritional transitions. To study this process, we: (1) describe trends in adult overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among rural Afro-Ecuadorians over time and across a gradient of community remoteness from the nearest commercial centre; (2) examine the relationship between male and female adult OW/OB and factors associated with market integration such as changing livelihoods and (3) examine the co-occurrence of adult OW/OB and under-five stunting and anaemia. DESIGN: Adult anthropometry was collected through serial case-control studies repeated over a decade across twenty-eight communities. At the same time, anthropometry and Hb were measured for all children under 5 years of age in every community. SETTING: Northern coastal Ecuador. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (n 1665) and children under 5 years of age (n 2618). RESULTS: From 2003 and 2013, OW/OB increased from 25·1 % to 44·8 % among men and 59·9 % to 70·2 % among women. The inverse relationship between remoteness and OW/OB in men was attenuated when adjusting for urban employment, suggesting that livelihoods mediated the remoteness-OW/OB relationship. No such relationship was observed among women. Communities with a higher prevalence of male OW/OB also had a greater prevalence of stunting, but not anaemia, in children under 5 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The association between male OW/OB and child stunting at the community level, but not the household level, suggests that changing food environments, rather than household- or individual-level factors, drove these trends. A closer examination of changing socio-economic structures and food environments in communities undergoing rapid development could help mitigate future public health burdens.

Trends of child undernutrition in rural Ecuadorian communities with differential access to roads, 2004-2013.

Road access can influence protective and risk factors associated with nutrition by affecting various social and biological processes. In northern coastal Ecuador, the construction of new roads created a remoteness gradient among villages, providing a unique opportunity to examine the impact of roads on child nutritional outcomes 10 years after the road was built. Anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements were collected from 2,350 children <5 years in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, from 2004 to 2013 across 28 villages with differing road access. Logistic generalized estimating equation models assessed the longitudinal association between village remoteness and prevalence of stunting, wasting, underweight, overweight, obesity, and anaemia. We examined the influence of socio-economic characteristics on the pathway between remoteness and nutrition by comparing model results with and without household-level socio-economic covariates. Remoteness was associated with stunting (OR = 0.43, 95% CI [0.30, 0.63]) and anaemia (OR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.44, 0.70]). Over time, the prevalence of stunting was generally decreasing but remained higher in villages closer to the road compared to those farther away. Obesity increased (0.5% to 3%) over time; wasting was high (6%) but stable during the study period. Wealth and education partially explained the better nutritional outcomes in remote vs. road villages more than a decade after some communities gained road access. Establishing the extent to which these patterns persist requires additional years of observation.

Composición proximal de la carne de cangrejo (callinectes sapidus) pasteurizada en el estado Zulia, Venezuela / Proximal composition of the pasteurized crab meat (callinectes sapidus) in the Zulia state, Venezuela

Para evaluar la composición nutricional (g/100g) de carne pasteurizada de cangrejo (Callinectes sapidus) se tomaron muestras al azar de dos plantas procesadoras del estado Zulia, evaluándose 20 latas/tipo de corte (Jumbo Lump, Lump, Special, Claw y CocKtail Claw). Las determinaciones de proteínas, humedad y cenizas se realizaron siguiendo las metodologías propuestas por la A.O.A.C.; el contenido de grasa por el método Randall; minerales (calcio, magnesio, sodio, potasio, zinc, cobre y hierro) por espectrofotometría de absorción atómica y fósforo por colorimetría según el método propuesto por Fiske y Subbarow. Se utilizó un diseño completamente al azar, siendo los tipos de corte la única fuente de variación. El promedio de proteínas fue similar para los cortes Special y Lump (21,24 y 20,83%) mostrando ambos tipos mayor contenido de proteínas al compararlos con el tipo Jumbo Lump (19,99%), Claw (16,38%) y Cocktail Claw (18,42%). El contenido de grasa en los cortes Claw y Special (1,85 y 1,74 g/100 g) fueron superiores al resto de los cortes. Los tipos Jumbo Lump, Lump y Special presentaron contenidos porcentuales de humedad similares, pero difirieron (P<0,001) de los tipos Claw y Cocktail Claw, quienes mostraron los menores contenidos. No hubo diferencias entre los cortes de cangrejo pasteurizado para el contenido de cenizas. Se concluye que la variación de la composición nutricional de la carne de cangrejo pasteurizada es atribuida a los diferentes tipos de corte. En tal sentido, la carne de cangrejo puede considerarse como una fuente alterna de proteínas y minerales, acompañada de bajos contenidos de grasas.

In order to evaluate the nutritional composition (g/100g) of the pasteurized crab meat (Callinectes sapidus), samples were taken at random from two processors plants of the Zulia State, evaluating 20 tins/tips of cut (Jumbo Lump, Lump, Special, Claw and CocKtail Claw). The determinations protein, humidity, ashes, they were realized following methodologies proposed by the A.O.A.C., the content of fat by the method Randall, the minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, copper and iron) for atomic absorption espectroscopy and phosphorus for colorimetry according to the method proposed by Fiske and Subbarow. A design was used completely at random, being the types of cut the only source of variation. The average of proteins was similar for Special and Lump cuts (21.24 and 20.83%) showing both types major content of proteins when comparing with the type Jumbo Lump (19.99%), Claw (16.38%) and Cocktail Claw (18.42%). The content of fat in the cuts Claw and Special (1.85 and 1.74 g/100 g) were superiors to the rest of the cuts. The Jumbo Lump, Lump and Special types presented similar contents of humidity percentage, but they difiered (P <0.001) of the types Claw and Cocktail Claw, whom showed the minors contents. There were no differences between the cuts of pasteurized crab for the content of ashes. In conclusion, the variation of the nutritional composition of the pasteurized crab meat is attributed to the different types of cuts. To this respect, the crab meat can be considered to be an alternate source of proteins and minerals, accompanied of low contents of fat.