P253 - IS THE PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC PEDIATRIC MALNUTRITION INFLUENCED BY GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION IN RURAL MAYA COMMUNITIES WITH RESPECT TO THE REST OF GUATEMALA?

P253

IS THE PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC PEDIATRIC MALNUTRITION INFLUENCED BY GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION IN RURAL MAYA COMMUNITIES WITH RESPECT TO THE REST OF GUATEMALA?

F. Busin^1,1,*, R. Giaretta², D. Sardei², A. Gualtiero², D. Saccardo², P. Madre Sonia³, S. Marilyn ³, A. Giaretta², A. Ruaro⁴, K. I. Rodriguez Castro², G. Coin³, I. Brambilla¹

¹Pediatrics , Pavia University, Pavia, ²Medici Vicentini per il Mondo Odv, ³Amici del Mondo Odv, Vicenza, ⁴Nutrition Science, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy

Rationale: In Guatemala, the highest poverty rates are found in the indigenous populations of rural areas (40%, of Maya ethnicity): here, chronic malnutrition reaches up to 70% and is accompanied by reduced access to education, inadequate hygienic conditions, and sometimes irreversible growth and learning delays.

Methods: In October 2024, 202 children in Patzùn and neighboring aldeas were assessed for weight, height, brachial circumference (MUAC), and cranial circumference (HC), then Z Score level was determined with the WHO Anthro programme. The children were also asked to draw a tree or a family to assess psycho-emotional development.

Results: Chronic malnutrition, particularly of the severe type (HAZ<-3), occurs more frequently in females (M vs F: 20.9% vs 39.1%, p=0.006) and younger children between 0 and 5 years (HAZ<-2: 76% vs 53%, p=0.001). Females were also more malnourished than males in the HC and MUAC indices, both moderate (HCZ<-2, M vs F: 52.6% vs 20%, p=0.010) and severe (HCZ<-3, M vs F: 6.7% vs 31.6%, p=0.010; MUAC<-3, M vs F: 0% vs 4.9%, p=0.037). Lastly, the drawings made by the children (N=76, theme: tree, family or free) show little playful activity in the first years of life (0-5), and their graphic trait is elementary, with little capacity for creative production: the children demonstrated initiative. Furthermore, there is no differentiation between the drawing of a pre-school child and a school-age child, so the evolution of learning is not evolving.

Conclusion: In the city of Patzùn and neighbouring villages, girls are the most severely malnourished (HAZ<-3), then the intervention actions in the fight against malnutrition in Guatemala should be multidisciplinary: the administration of caloric and high-protein supplements should be flanked by the training of young women or mothers and play-learning programmes for children. 

Disclosure of Interest: None declared