Dietary Intake and Nutritional Status of Children Aged 1 to 5 Years in Two Rural Communities of San Juan Bautista, Loreto: A Case Study

The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between food consumption and nutritional status of children aged 1 to 5 years in two rural communities in San Juan Bautista, Loreto. The research was quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional and correlational. The sample consisted of 145 children from the communities of Zungarococha and Nina Rumi. A food consumption frequency survey, a 24-hour recall survey and an anthropometric data sheet were used. It was found that the BMI of 5-year-old children had a normal status of 92.41%, overweight of 6.33% and obesity with 1.27%. The T/E of children aged 1 to 5 years was normal with 88.28% and 7.58% with short stature. The P/T in children aged 1 to 4 years was 87.88% within the normal range, 9.09% overweight and 3.03% obese. The hemoglobin level showed that 71.72% had normal levels, 6.21% moderate anemia and 22.07% mild anemia. The consumption of macronutrients showed deficits in energy (36%), proteins (55.17%) and lipids (44.83%), along with an excess of carbohydrates (36.55%). In micronutrients, deficits were recorded in calcium (97.24%), iron (93.79%), vitamin A (84.13%) and vitamin C (53.1%). It was concluded that there is a significant statistical relationship between nutritional status and nutrient intake. Height-for-age showed correlation with carbohydrates, calcium, and vitamin C consumption, whereas BMI-for-age was highly associated with energy, protein, fat, calcium and iron intake.