[Prediction of the nutritional status by anthropometrical variables and food safety at homes of pregnant women from Caracas, Venezuela].
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to analyze the nutritional status and household food security of a sample of healthy pregnant women who attend to external medicine service at Concepcion Palacios Maternity located in Caracas, Venezuela, and identify variables, which could predict the nutritional status of the evaluated group.


METHODS
This cross sectional, descriptive, comparative study evaluates a sample of 89 pregnant women, between 14 and 44 years of age. Economical, social, demographic and alimentary consumption variables and nutritional conditions were studied. On the way, anthropometrics like weight, height, and middle-arm circumference and Household food security scale were obtained. In order to perform the descriptive statistic, bivariate, and multiple linear regression analysis required during the investigation, the software SPSS, version 12, was used.


RESULTS
The predictive variables considered for the evaluation of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women were: right middle-arm circumference, household food security level and the supplementation with vitamins and/or minerals. These variables explain 78.2% of the actual nutritional status variation in this sample. Therefore, this investigation highlights the importance of the research on simple variables, as a good prediction of the actual nutritional status in pregnant women, with acceptable precision values and without requiring high-trained personnel to perform it. Under these findings, is very important the study of more predictive variables to evaluate the nutritional and alimentary conditions, with practical and easy mechanisms that can be applied by non-technical personnel.


CONCLUSIONS
It is recommended to go deep into the study of methods, which evaluate the nutrition in an easy and practical way, applied by non-technical personnel, besides continuing the validation process of the variable combinations determined as predictive of the nutritional status.
Pérez Guillén
A
A
Departamento de Tecnología de Procesos Biológicos y Bioquímicos y Laboratorio de Evaluación Nutricional, Universidad Simón Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela. analyperez@usb.ve
Bernal Rivas
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D014505:Urban Population; D014687:Venezuela