Malnutrition and poverty in Guatemala

The objective of this paper is to document the extent, and distribution of child, and adult malnutrition in Guatemala; to analyze the relationship between selected child, maternal, household and community characteristics, and children's nutritional status; and, to outline the implications of the most important findings for nutritional policy. The prevalence of chronic malnutrition among Guatemalan children in 2000, was the highest in Latin America, and among the highest in the world. The data show very strong socioeconomic, and geographic inequality. The econometric analysis reveals a strong impact of income, and of inter-generational effects. Education of adults in the household, and the availability of infrastructure, are other important determinants of children's growth attainment. Finally, even controlling for income, and other household and community characteristics, ethnicity remains an important determinant of child nutritional status. The study also reveals an increasing prevalence of excess weights, and obesity among children and adults. Over-nutrition tends to be higher among individuals living in urban areas, and among non-poor, and non-indigenous households.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Child and Children's Health,Primary Education,Public Health Promotion,Early Childhood Development,Early Childhood Development,Youth and Governance,Nutrition,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Child and Children's Health

Field Museum news.

v. 5 (1934

Alimentation complémentaire de 38 nourrissons sénégalais

Une enquête de consommation alimentaire par pesée a été faite pendant 3 jours chez 38 nourrissons sénégalais afin d'apprécier la part de l'alimentation complémentaire dans la couverture de leurs besoins nutritionnels. Les apports recommandés en énergie et en protéines sont satisfaits respectivement à 49 et à 74%. Les besoins nutritionnels sont couverts à des niveaux variables : calcium 38%, fer 24%, vitamine A 39%, B1 51%, B2 43%, PP 82%, C 54%, folates 8%, B12 263%. En tenant compte de l'estimation des apports assurés par le lait maternel, les apports recommandés en énergie et en protéines sont satisfaits pendant la période étudiée. (Résumé d'auteur

Advancing the Global Campaign Against Child Labor: Progress Made and Future Actions

A report of the conference hosted by the Department of Labor, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, on May 17, 2000. The document “contains an edited collection of the speeches and papers prepared and presented for this meeting, as well as news feature stories and photos documenting many of the efforts discussed. It seeks to highlight some of the innovative and effective strategies being used in various countries around the world to address the problem of exploitative child labor” [excerpt]

Does cash crop adoption detract from childcare provision?

Using data from fieldwork conducted in Nepal, the impact of a project designed to commercialize vegetables and fruits — the Vegetable and Fruit Cash Crop Program (VFC)— on male and female time allocation is examined. Using a rigorous time collection methodology, activity patterns in households that adopt and do not adopt the new technology are profiled. Very few studies examine changing activity patterns of both men and women in response to commercialization of agriculture. Though women's time is valuable in agriculture, it is also valuable in the production of child nutrition. The recent evolution in thinking as to the causes of child malnutrition—the three pillars being food intake, health, and time to care—warrants further analyses of the time trade-offs that women and men face when adopting new agricultural technologies. The VFC program was successful at targeting both men and women farmers in the sense that household participation resulted in increased head male and head female time spent growing vegetables and fruits. The responses varied, however, by the number of preschool children in residence. In households with more than one preschooler, the time trade-offs associated with VFC participation were not sizeable for the care of children under 5 years. In households with just one preschooler, the trade-offs were more important. In these households, preschoolers received less care from the male and female heads, who spent more time in both the cash crop and in the food crop. In these same households, the nonwork (leisure) time of men increased as a result of VFC participation, but for women, leisure time was unaffected. Thus in the short run, there is perhaps scope for protecting childcare time by reducing time to leisure. In the medium run, benefits may well accrue to unborn preschoolers if VFC participation empowers women.Child care. ,Malnutrition Nepal. ,Children Nutrition. ,Cash crops Nepal. ,

Food Insecurity and its relation to Socioeconomic Inequities, Food Diversity and Obesity: A Cross-sectional Pilot Study among Indigenous Women in the Lake Atitlán Area, Guatemala

Background: Guatemala faces several challenges related to high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and food insecurity, despite being classified as an upper-middle-income country. These problems are a reflection of the country's historical inequalities and the perpetuation of conditions that affect the health and economic development of the most vulnerable populations. Aim: The present study aimed to assess food insecurity in households of Tz'utujil Maya women living around Lake Atitlán, in Guatemala, and to relate it to socioeconomic factors, dietary diversity, and anthropometric measures. Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study investigated the subsample of women responsible for food provision in their households, who had previously participated in the Respiratory Health in the Lake Atitlan (2021). Data were collected via digital questionnaires using the Kobotoolbox software. The assessed variables included food insecurity, measured by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), socio-demographic information, dietary diversity assessed by the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W), and levels of general and abdominal obesity, evaluated through anthropometric measures. The study population comprised 86 Tz'utujil Mayan women aged 18-49 years who were recruited over a three-week period in the municipality of San Pablo la Laguna, Guatemala. Results: The prevalence of severe food insecurity stood at 64%, with only one household (1.2%) reported as food secure. Notably, 28% experienced moderate food insecurity, and 7% faced mild insecurity. However, economic hardship was widespread, as 97% of households experienced monetary poverty, and educational attainment was relatively low, with 64% having incomplete or only primary education. Furthermore, just 12.8% of households could afford the daily food basket per household size. Despite these health concerns, the majority (92%) achieved minimum dietary diversity. The average body mass index (BMI) was 30.1 kg/m², with 49% classified as obese. Additionally, 59% had high waist circumference, with 50% showing increased central adiposity, and 29% displaying high central adiposity based on the waist-to-height ratio. Conclusions: This study reveals the worrying reality for indigenous Mayan Tz'utujil women in San Pablo, Guatemala, with two-thirds of the assessed households facing severe food insecurity. A complexity of factors relevant for community health were found, such as high levels of poverty, low levels of schooling, as well as high levels of both obesity and stunting.M.Phil. in Global Health - ThesisINTH395AMAMD-GLO

Strengthening public safety nets

Helping to reduce vulnerability poses a new set of challenges for public policy. The most immediate challenge is to determine the appropriate role for public action if there should be a role at all. A starting point is the ways that communities and extended families try to cope with difficullties in the absence of government interventions. Coping mechanisms range from the informal exchange of transfers and loans within families and commmunitieis to more structured institutions that enable an entire community to provides protections to their neediest members. The existence of this web of private and nonformal mechanisms pompts a series of questions: Will building public safety nets displace existing mechanisms and offer limited net gain to households? Would it be more effective to strengthen existing mechanisms than creating new ones? Can the private sector and NGOs play larger roles? This paper provides some speculative answers and describes places for public action, as well as its limits.Social institutions. ,Public institutions. ,

A cost-effectiveness analysis of demand- and supply-side education interventions

This paper is concerned with the issue of the most cost-effective way of improving access to education for poor households in developing countries. We consider two alternatives: (1) extensive expansion of the school system (i.e., bringing education to the poor) and (2) subsidizing investment in education by the poor (i.e., bringing the poor to the education system). To this end, we evaluate the Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA), a large poverty alleviation program recently introduced in Mexico that subsidizes education. Using double-difference regression estimators on data collected before and after the program for randomly selected control and treatment households, we estimate the relative impacts of the demand- and supply-side program components. Combining these estimates with cost information, we find that the demand-side subsidies are substantially more cost-effective than supply-side expansions.Progresa. ,Education Mexico. ,Investments. ,Poverty alleviation Mexico. ,Subsidies Mexico. ,

The nutritional transition and diet-related chronic diseases in Asia

The nutritional transition currently occurring in Asia is one facet of a more general demographic/nutritional/epidemiological transition that accompanies development and urbanization, marked by a shift away from relatively monotonous diets of varying nutritional quality toward an industrialized diet that is usually more varied, includes more preprocessed food, more food of animal origin, more added sugar and fat, and often more alcohol. This is accompanied by shift in the structure of occupations and leisure toward reduced physical activity, and leads to a rapid increase in the numbers of overweight and obese. The accompanying epidemiological transition is marked by a shift away from endemic deficiency and infectious diseases toward chronic diseases such as obesity, adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, stroke, hyperlipidaemia, coronary heart disease, and cancer. Obesity is now a major public health problem in Asia. Obesity is a problem of the urban poor as well as the rich, and the urban poor have the added predisposing factors associated with low birthweight. Costs of chronic disease are estimated for China and Sri Lanka. Diet-related chronic disease is projected to increase and dietary factors (principally overweight) will account for an increased share of chronic disease, and childhood factors will decline in significance. Few program and policy options to address these issues have been undertaken in Asia. Agricultural policy is important, and the relatively cheap availability of vegetable oil may have had dramatic (adverse) dietary effects in Asia. Price policy has considerable potential, in particular the pricing of oils. Promoting a traditional diet has been quite helpful in holding down fat intake and obesity in Korea. Health promotion efforts in Mauritius succeeded in reversing several adverse trends contributing to coronary heart disease. Thailand has successfully used mass media for other health promotion efforts and is moving to pilot schemes in the area of chronic disease. And Singapore has been the leader in the region in exercise promotion and weight control in schools.Urbanization Asia ,Nutritionally induced diseases Asia. ,Diet Developing countries. ,Public health Developing countries ,