Trends of height-for-age Z-scores according to age among Brazilian children under 5 years old from 2006 to 2019

• Autor(a) principal: Rugani Ribeiro de Castro, Inês
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Rodrigues Farias, Dayana, Lelis Berti, Talita, Gomes Andrade, Pedro, Antonio dos Anjos, Luiz, Helena Alves-Santos, Nadya, Maria de Aquino Lacerda, Elisa, Brusco de Freitas, Maiara, Kac, Gilberto, on Child Nutrition, Brazilian Consortium
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Texto Completo: https://cadernos.ensp.fiocruz.br/ojs/index.php/csp/article/view/8342
• topic: Crescimento; Estatura; Nutrição da Criança; Estado Nutricional; Inquéritos Nutricionais; Crecimiento; Estatura; Nutrición del Niño; Estado Nutricional; Encuestas Nutricionales; Growth; Body Height; Child Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Nutritional Surveys

This study compared the distribution of stunting and height-for-age (HAZ) Z-scores among age groups in data from the Brazilian National Survey on Demography and Health of Women and Children (PNDS 2006) and the Brazilian National Survey on Child Nutrition (ENANI-2019). The final sample comprised 4,408 and 14,553 children < 59 months of age in the PNDS 2006 and ENANI-2019, respectively. Children with HAZ scores < -2 according to the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standard were classified as stunted. Prevalence, 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), means, and standard deviations were estimated for Brazil and according to age. The distribution of HAZ scores at each age (in months) was estimated using the svysmooth function of the R survey package. Analyses considered the complex sampling design of the studies. Statistical differences were determined by analyzing the 95%CI of the overlap of point estimates. From 2006 to 2019, the prevalence of stunting for children < 12 months of age increased from 4.7% to 9%. As expected, the smoothed curves showed a higher mean HAZ score for children < 24 months of age in 2006 than in 2019 with no overlap of 95%CI among children aged 6-12 months. For children ≥ 24 months of age, we observed a higher mean HAZ score in 2019. Although the prevalence of stunting among children < 59 months of age was similar between 2006 and 2019, mean HAZ scores among children ≥ 24 months of age increased, whereas the mean HAZ score among children < 24 months of age decreased. Considering the deterioration in living conditions and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect a greater prevalence of stunting in Brazil in the near future.