title: Anthropometric and cycloergometric assessment of the nutritional status of the children of agricultural migrant workers in Southern Brazil.
abstract: In our survey of the food habits and nutritional status of "Boia-Fria" agricultural migrant workers in Southern Brazil, a special project was undertaken to assess the influence of socioeconomic and dietary deprivation on the physical growth and development and physical performance of their children. Four hundred fifty-five children in Boia-Fria families from Vila Recreio, a periurban slum of Ribeirao Preto located in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo, were examined for body weight, standing height, mid-upper arm muscle circumference, and head circumference. For comparison, 475 children from "Vita et Pax", a private school attended primarily by children of well-to-do families from the city of Ribeirao Preto, were also examined using similar anthropometric procedures. A small group of selected Boia-Fria children and their well-to-do counterparts were subjected to ergometric-cum-electrocardiographic testing for submaximal physical work performance. The overall results of this comparative study indicate that the physical growth and development and the physical performance of the Boia-Fria children are significantly lower than their well-to-do counterparts. It is suggested that the poor anthropometric and ergometric status of the Boia-Fria children is a reflection of poor dietary habits and socioeconomic deprivation prevalent among the agricultural migrant workers and poor periurban populations of Brazil.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D005082:Physical Exertion; D014171:Transients and Migrants