ESTADO NUTRICIONAL DE PREESCOLARES DEL CENTRO DE ESTIMULACIÓN TEMPRANA “BABY GYM” DEL CANTÓN QUEVEDO, AÑO 2017

Abstract

In the present research work, the nutritional status and food quality of preschoolers enrolled in the "Baby GYM" Early Stimulation Center were evaluated during the 2017-2018 school year. For this purpose, 31 children from 1 to 5 years of age were enrolled in this research, using an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive, non-experimental, qualitative and quantitative study. The sample highlights that the largest group is made up of children 2 years old in 45% and the smallest group is 5 years old in 4%, referring to nutritional status highlights that there are 26% of cases of malnutrition, 7% keep low weight and 19% overweight, in the case of height for age, 20% keep low height, cases of malnutrition are incidents especially in the female sex, this being the predominant in cases of low weight children 2 years and 4 years are the ones with the highest percentages. With respect to food, although most of them eat their food at home, there is a margin that eats their food outside the home. With respect to the menus offered, it was observed that none of them meet the appropriate standards for the age group, presenting an imbalance in their contribution of proteins and carbohydrates.