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Nursing care applied to the nutritional status of the students of a Educational Unit

Abstract:

Introduction: Child malnutrition is a difficult problem to eradicate. The prevalence of chronic malnutrition fluctuates in 10 % to 50 %, exceeding this figure in some countries. A curious fact is that the problem in Ecuador is not the lack of food availability, but the inequity in access to adequate food either due to educational and cultural factors or economic factors. Objective: To determine the nutritional status and associated diseases of children in an Educational Unit and to design corrective measures in this regard. Methods: A prospective, non-probabilistic, convenience study was conducted in 245 children aging 8 and 12 years in the “Pedro Fermín Cevallos” Educational Unit, in Cevallos canton. Tungurahua, Ecuador, from April to September 2016 to issue the values of the measurement nutritional status by means of the research of Health Records after the application of consistent techniques and instruments and previous signing of the informed consent by the representatives. Results: 54.29 % were male. 82.86 % were underweight. The composition of the family was nuclear in 88.16 %. 51.43 % of the children had some disease with a predominance of intestinal parasitism and respiratory and dermatological affections. Conclusions: Once nutritional disorders and associated diseases are identified, educational measures are designed and implemented to improve nutrition problems.