Anthropometric indices of children treated in daycare centers and the relationship with socioeconomic, maternal and child factors

Abstract

Weight/height and weight/age anthropometric statistics are important, respectively, for identifying incipient changes in weight and alterations in nutritional status at an early stage. The scope of this study was to analyze weight/height- and weight/age-associated factors in preschool children. This is a cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample scrutinizing 299 children enrolled in municipal daycare centers. Information was obtained through interviews with mothers together with a questionnaire analyzing socioeconomic, maternal and child information. Weight and height/stature of children were measured according to recommendations of the World Health Organization. The results showed that none of the maternal variables was associated with the nutritional status of children and that only birth weight among child variables revealed any association with weight/height (p = 0.0030) and weight/age scores (p = 0.0018). The block of socioeconomic variables, in turn, proved to be the most representative variation factor of results, especially in the weight/age index. The importance of birth weight in the weight/height and weight/age of children, as well as the socioeconomic conditions notably in weight/age indices, was clearly revealed.