Resumo

LEAL MATEOS, Manrique; RUIZ CASTRO, Javier  e  SALAZAR SOLIS, Ricardo. Estado nutricional de la población menor de 5 años en la consulta de crecimiento y desarrollo del distrito San Rafael de Alajuela en el año 2002. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2004, vol.46, n.2, pp.72-77. ISSN 0001-6002.

Nutritional surveys carried out in Costa Rica provide an overview of the general nutritional status of our population. However, they don't provide accurate information as to what happens in different health areas in the country or data about the performance of prevention programs. The present study, therefore, is aimed at determining the nutritional status of the population under 5 years of age who visited the primary care centers in the district of San Rafael, province of Alajuela in 2002, and to comparing the nutritional status of the target population with the results from the last national nutritional survey from 1996. The target population consisted of children under 5 years old who visited the primary care centers. Based on the sampIe, a population characterization was carried out according to anthropometrical indicators of weight/age, size/age, and weight/size. A total of 275 records were analyzed. The mean age was 18 months and the most frequent age was 12 months. According to the weight/age indicator, 33 (12%) of the children showed certain degree of malnutrition and 9 (3.3%) had overweight. The percentage of children suffering from malnutrition or overweight was similar for both genders and ages. After comparing results fram the last national nutritional survey, it was determined that children who visited the primary care centers showed a better nutritional status than the national population.

Palavras-chave : estado nutricional; crecimiento y desarrollo; indicadores antropométricos.