La anemia en niños menores de tres años es un problema de salud pública en el Perú y el mundo. Se estima que la causa principal de la anemia, aunque no la única, es la deficiencia de hierro. Existen muchos estudios y revisiones sobre cómo esta carencia en los infantes impacta negativamente en el desarrollo psicomotor y, a pesar de corregirse la anemia, los niños con este antecedente presentan, a largo plazo, un menor desempeño en las áreas cognitiva, social y emocional. Estos hallazgos se describen en estudios observacionales, de seguimiento, así como en experimentales con grupo control. La anemia puede disminuir el desempeño escolar, y la productividad en la vida adulta, afectando la calidad de vida, y en general la economía de las personas afectadas. Se describen algunos posibles mecanismos de cómo la deficiencia de hierro, con o sin anemia, podría afectar el desarrollo e...

Objectives. To assess the nutritional status, physical activity, and eating habits of schoolchildren in Cercado de Lima (Lima district). Materials and methods. Cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample included schoolchildren from first to fourth grade in four public elementary schools located in Cercado de Lima. The study variables were nutritional status, hemoglobin dose, physical activity, and eating habits. The percentages of the qualitative variables and central tendency measures for quantitative ones were calculated. The t-test and chi-squared test were applied to analyze differences between both genders. Results. Of 824 schoolchildren included in the study, 24% were obese, 22% were overweight, 5% had short stature, and 11.9% had anemia; in all instances, there were no substantial gender differences. More than 40% of schoolchildren would eat crackers and drink packaged juice an...

Introduction: The consumption of fast food and soft drinks is a risk factor for developing overweight and obesity. This study aimed at assessing if there is association between household socioeconomic level and the consumption of fast food and soft drinks among children. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional assessment of the data from the third round (2009-2010) of the youngest cohort of the Young Lives study in Peru was conducted. Sampling was conducted in three stages: In the first one, the country was divided into equal geographical regions, excluding the 5% of the richest district; in the second stage, 20 sentinel sites were chosen and an area within each sentinel site was selected. Finally, in the third stage, eligible children were selected. Outcomes were the self-reported consumption of fast food and soft drinks (never, sometimes, and always), whereas the exposure was household...