Nutritional characterization of adolescents of the peasant community of the Ybyraty neighborhood of Paraguarí

Abstract

The practice of diets and habits by adolescents in rural areas is primarily due to limited knowledge of the food profile of their environment. The objective of the study was to carry out the nutritional-food characterization of the adolescents of the rural community of the Ybyraty neighborhood of the district of Escobar, Paraguarí in 2017. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study in which the procedure of data collection was carried out through an in depth interview with rural adolescents. In addition, anthropometric measures such as: height, weight, waist circumference, were taken and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. One hundred and fourteen adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age were interviewed, 57% was female. Seventy-three percent had a BMI suitable for their age, 14% had risk of malnutrition, 7% moderate malnutrition, while 6% were overweight. Eighty percent proved to be the right size, 11% presented a risk of short stature and 9% had a short stature for age. In the consumption trend, it was found that the participants had access to drinking water which also was mentioned as the most frequent daily drink. The consumption of milk, eggs, beef, domestic hen, pork, fish, legumes, herbaceous plants such as sweet potatoes, cucurbits such as pumpkin, raw and cooked vegetables and fruits; the latter thanks to the family agricultural production. Despite a good availability of healthy foods there is malnutrition due to imbalances in the intake of nutrients, finding adolescents of short stature for their age. It is recommended to increase the daily consumption of the less consumed foods such as fruits, tubers and vegetables