Observations of the Alto Xingu Indians (Central Brazil) with special reference to nutritional evaluation in children

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Abstract
Little information concerning the nutritional status of Brazilian Indians living primitively in a large area of the Amazon region is available at present. This study took place in the Xingu National Park, created to preserve the Indian population living in this area, along with its culture. Field work was done in three consecutive years (1974, 1975, 1976). At the end of this period 175 children had been studied (97 male and 78 female) all estimated to be under 5 yr of age. Two kinds of studies were performed: 1) cross-sectional: studying the children that entered in the nutritional survey every year, and 2) longitudinal: studying the children that were under observation for 2 or 3 consecutive yr. The nutritional status was evaluated by two age-independent anthropometric indices, namely, weight-for-height and arm-circumference-for-height. The weight-for-height index showed that 96.0% of the children examined were classified as well nourished, 3.4% suffered of 1st degree malnutrition and 0.6% of 2nd degree malnutrition. The arm-circumference-for-height revealed that 97.1% were well nourished and 2.9% were classified as suffering of a mild degree of malnutrition. Since both indices used can give normal results in a population in which there is severe stunting or nutritional dwarfism, a longitudinal study was drawn. Growth in height was studied, resulting normal in 84.8% of the measurements taken. In contrast to children from low-income families living in the outskirts of large urban centers where malnutrition reaches 54.0%, the Indians remain as healthy as they were when last examined 30 yr ago.

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