Abstract
Guatemala has the highest prevalence of one of the main forms of childhood malnutrition in Latin America, with 49% of children chronically undernourished, i.e., stunted. Bhutta et al2 show that education about complementary feeding can increase height-for-age Z score by 0.25. Nutrition-related interventions can also reduce stunting at 36 months by 36%, and mortality between birth and 36 months by about 25%. Adherence to the World Health Organization (WHO) Complementary Feeding Guidelines has also been shown to prevent weanling diarrhea. (The guidelines are related to better micronutrient status and growth.) In addition to having the highest chronic undernutrition in the Americas, Guatemala also scores most poorly on adherence to complementary feeding guidelines. Ruel and Menon attributed the low score for complementary feeding practices to the relative poverty of Guatemala. Together, lack of complementary feeding practices and poverty may explain Guatemala’s high rate of stunting as shown in the surveys included (42% and 39% in 1995 and 1999, respectively). On the other hand, recent research (completed and published), supported in part by a Sight and Life grant to the Center for Studies of Sensory Impairment, Aging and Metabolism (CESSIAM), shows that in Guatemala, the intakes of most micronutrients were near recommended levels.
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