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A nutritional, haematological and sociological study of a group of Chilean Children under the age of 5 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Roger O. Plail  and
Janet M. S. Young
Roger O. Plail
Affiliation:
St Mary' Hospital, London
Janet M. S. Young
Affiliation:
St Mary' Hospital, London
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Summary

A survey was carried out on 108 Chilean children and a selection of their families. The factors studied were: (1) social, (2) demographic and dietary—to provide a background to the study, (3) nutrition—to assess the incidence and degree of malnutrition and (4) haematology—to determine the incidence of anaemia.

The major findings which have emerged are: (1) the diet of the people was not severely impaired, but it was observed that only small quantities of food with high nutritive value were consumed; (2) undernutrition was present with 41·5% of the children having first degree, 11·4% second degree and 1·0% third degree malnutrition (Gomez classification); (3) 46·1% of the children were anaemic, apparently because of iron deficiency.

The concluding discussion centres on some constructive suggestions for improvement of existing conditions leading to better standards of health.

Type
Special Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , July 1977 , pp. 353 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © 1977, Cambridge University Press

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