Abstract
Introduction: Nutritional disorders, such as micronutrient deficiencies, account for nearly half of global deaths in children under 5 years old. The ALIMENTAR Card (TA) is an instrument of the Argentina Against Hunger Plan aimed at ensuring families’ access to the basic food basket.
Objective: To characterize the anthropometric, biochemical, and dietary nutritional status of children aged 12 to 18 months whose families are beneficiaries of the TA and are treated at a public pediatric hospital.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Children aged 12 to 18 months whose families were beneficiaries of the TA during 2022-2023 participated. Anthropometric and biochemical variables were determined, including anemia, iron deficiency (ID), zinc deficiency (ZD), vitamin A deficiency (VAD), and vitamin E deficiency (VED), as well as dietary practices such as dietary diversity (DD), minimum acceptable diet, and continued breastfeeding. Statistical analysis was performed using R software version 4.3.0. The protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee.
Results: A total of 89 children were evaluated, with a median age of 1.13 (1.05; 1.32) years. 5.2% of the children were overweight, and 6.5% had stunted. The prevalence of anemia, ID, ZD, VAD, and VED was 34.8%, 52.3%, 1.6%, 1.6%, and 4.8%, respectively. 22.7% of the children did not have adequate dietary diversity, 25% did not meet the minimum acceptable diet criteria, and 37.5% were still breastfeeding.
Conclusion: It was observed that 1 in 4 children, whose families were beneficiaries of the TA, did not have adequate nutrition. Additionally, anemia and ID continue to be prevalent problems in this population.
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