Hábitos dietéticos en relación con el estado nutricional de los niños y niñas de 9 a 12 años, de la Escuela de Educación Básica “Jesús Infante”, en el año lectivo 2022-2023

Abstract

Currently, a notable alteration has been observed in the eating habits of the population, which has led to an alarming increase in problems such as obesity, overweight and chronic non-communicable diseases, which are manifesting themselves at an increasingly younger age, with a radical change in the diet of schoolchildren and the daily use of technology, which has led to an increase in sedentary activities, Therefore, it is crucial to determine the relationship between dietary habits and nutritional status of children aged 9 to 12 from the 'Jesús Infante' Primary School, through a non-experimental, analytical, cross-sectional study in a sample of 62 students who met the eligibility criteria, using the E-Kindex survey to identify habits and an anthropometric card for data on weight, height and date of birth to be uploaded to the WHO Antro Plus application, and a descriptive analysis of the variables in JAMOVI. According to their type, statistical tests were applied and correlation graphs were generated, giving as a result that the dietary habits of boys there are more cases in negative aspects both in the frequency of consumption, dietary behavior and in the total dietary habits, while girls present better dietary practices, in addition to the nutritional status, by means of the height-for-age z-score, it was established that there is only one case of low height corresponding to a boy, in overweight: 16 cases and obesity: 11 cases. To conclude that children's nutritional status is related to behavior and dietary habits, thus accepting the alternative hypothesis that behavior and habits play an important role in enabling children to have an adequate nutritional status.