title: [Stunting in Brazilian children: relationship with social-environmental conditions and maternal nutritional status].
abstract: The relationship between stunting in Brazilian children with their mother's nutritional status and their social-environmental situation was assessed in a probabilistic sample of the Brazilian population in 1989. Data from 12644 mother-son pairs were analyzed. Maternal nutritional status was classified based on the body mass index and stunting was identified in children with stature or length for age Z < or = -2 of the American growth reference curve (NCHS). Stunting was observed in 14.4% of the children (15.9% of boys and 12.9% of girls) There was an inverse relationship between the level of stunting and maternal education, income and house living conditions. Children of illiterate mothers showed more stunting (OR = 17.2) than children whose mothers had had at least 9 years of formal education. Stunting was more frequently observed in children whose mothers were underweight (OR = 2.5), and who were from the first quartile of family income in comparison to the fourth quartile (OR = 11.0) and lived in the poorest living conditions (OR = 7.6). These results suggest a positive association between stunted children and underweight mothers.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Saúde Escola Germano Sinval Farias, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rua Leopoldo Bulhões 1480, Rio de Janeiro, Rj 21041-210 Brasil. crisvan@ensp.fiocruz.br
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Engstrom
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Anjos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D009748:Nutrition Disorders; D009752:Nutritional Status; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors