Objectives:
to investigate the coverage of the System for Nutrition Surveillance of Indigenous People (SISVAN-I) and to estimate the prevalence of nutritional disorders in children aged under 60 months, in the Yanomami Special Sanitary District (DSEI-Yanomami).
Methods:
a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between May 2008 and April 2009. Coverage was calculated by dividing the number of children evaluated by the total number of children enrolled. The health basic units (PB) with at least one record of weight and height available at each trimester, were included. The nutritional evaluation was based on the first record identified during the study period and used the World Health Organization curves as a point of reference (2006). Factors associated with low weight for age (W/A) were analyzed using logistic regression.
Results:
the mean coverage at the eight PB selected was 27.7%. In all, 80.5% of children presented with low H/A; 57.5% with low W/A; 8.4% were thin and 5.5% overweight. The greatest likelihood of low W/A was found in children aged 36 to 59 months and in the Sanumá subgroup (OR=2.9 IC95%: 2.1-3.9 and OR=9.8 IC95%: 5.9-16.1, respectively). There was no difference between boys and girls.
Conclusions:
although the coverage of the SISVAN-I has been low, the system has proved useful in revealing the severe nutritional situation among children in the DSEI-Yanomami and has signaled a need for intervention.
Nutritional status; Health of indigenous peoples; Nutritional surveillance