Infant malnutrition and living conditions in Bolivian migrant families residing in the peri-urban of La Plata city (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

BERGEL SANCHÍS ML; TORRES MF; QUINTERO FA; LUIS MA; GARRAZA M; LUNA ME; NAVAZO B; GAUNA ME; CESANI MF

Denver

Congreso; 47th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association; 2022

For decades, Argentina has been a preferred destination for Bolivian immigrant families seeking to improve their living conditions, having to adapt to the new environment, among which are the possibilities of access to food.It is known that food consumption reflects the place of individuals in a given society. Thereby, food is understood as an indicator of the living conditions and nutritional status of children an empirical reference of them.Objectives: 1) to characterize the nutritional status of children living in the peri-urban of the city of La Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina) together with socio-economic and environmental family information (SEFI); and 2) to conduct a comparative analysis between native andmigrant families in order to visualize possible inequalities. M&M: Anthropometric techniques were applied to obtain weight and height data that were contrasted with WHO reference and structured surveys were conducted to obtain SEFI. The sample was made up of 465 children between 3.0 and 6.9 years; 64.3% were native families and 35.7% were immigrant families.Results: 53.5% of the total sample had malnutrition: 6.2% undernutrition (mainly chronic type) and 48.9% excess of weight (32.3% overweight; 16.6% obesity). Comparative analysis showed that migrant children suffered more excess weight (56.0% vs. 44.8%; p=0.021) and were in situations of greater social vulnerability than their native neighbors.Conclusions: It is essential to implement joint actions by public sectors aimed at improving living conditions and combating child malnutrition in this population, paying particular attention to the needs of immigrant families.