| 2151 Early Childhood Malnutrition and Socioeconomic Status in Rural Haiti | ||
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S. STRASSER1, W.J. PSOTER1, B.J. GEBRIAN2, R.V. KATZ1, and M.O. ETIENNE1, 1New York University, USA, 2Haitian Health Foundation, Jeremie, Haiti Objective: Malnutrition affects over 1/3 of the world's population and results in significant morbidity and mortality during the first years of life. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if there is an association between SES and malnutrition in rural Haitian children, and to clarify the implications of those findings for future health research projects and studies. Methods: Using measurements of weight-for-age on children from birth to five years old with at least 2 weighs in three of their first 5 years of life and converted to z-scores based on the World Health Organization [WHO] 1978 reference database. Three hierarchal categories of malnutrition were then established. The sample included 4,990 rural Haitian children. A socioeconomic scale composed of 6 factors developed for rural Haiti categorized children as poor, poorer, and poorest. Multinomial regression models compared malnutrition scores with 3 classes of aggregate SES measures. Results: SES was found to be inversely associated with malnutrition level. The relative risk for having no malnutrition, as compared to confirmed malnutrition, was nearly nearly 2-fold (or 110%) higher for each increased SES level (RR 2.1, p£.001, 95% CI 1.8, 2.4). Further, the relative risk of having moderate malnutrition, as compared to confirmed malnutrition, was 50% higher with each increase in SES level (RR 1.5, p£.001, 95% CI 1.3, 1.6). Conclusions: Despite seemingly truncated and homogenously low SES standards in rural Haiti, malnutrition is inversely associated with the subtle differences of SES levels among rural poor children. Socioeconomic status may, if unaccounted for, confound studies of disease and interventions in rural, less-developed areas. Therefore, SES needs to be included epidemiological and public health studies even in developing countries with truncated and homogeneously low SES levels. Supported by NIH NIDCR R01 DE014708-01A2 | ||
| Seq #226 - Nutrition Posters 3:30 PM-4:45 PM, Friday, March 23, 2007 Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Exhibit Hall I2-J | ||
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