[Politico-administrative distribution of nutritional status according to a height census of 1st grade school children in Panama].

Abstract

Height is the anthropometric measurement that best summarizes the effects of socioeconomic factors on the health and nutritional status of a given community. For the purpose of identifying the lowest disaggregation level, the political-administrative areas with the highest malnutrition prevalences, a height census that included 58,000 children who attended the 3,000 schools of the country was carried out. The Republic of Panama is politically-administratively divided into 9 provinces, 65 districts, one Indian community and 505 "corregimientos." The results obtained showed marked differences in height retardation among provinces, among districts and among "corregimientos." In the latter, retardation in first grade children varies from 0 to 95%. Important differences were also observed within a same district among "corregimientos", as is the case with the District of Natá, which vary from 4 to 40%. The height census permitted the identification and quantification of nutritional damage in 28 districts and 204 priority "corregimientos", where it is expected, resources from the public sector will be assigned in order to substantially reduce the prevailing poverty, as well as the food and nutrition problems.