Ecologic Determinants of the Health of Aymara Children

Abstract

Although the study we describe was concerned with the health of all individuals in the Departamento de Arica, as reflected in an altitudinal cross-section of the region’s residents, the health of the young was a matter of special concern. We justify this focus and this chapter as follows: Forty-two percent of the population of Latin America is less than 14 years of age (Galofre, 1979). There are 3.6 million children in Chile under fifteen years of age (37.7% of the total population); 1.4 million of these are less than five years old. If the present fertility rate of 4.1 live births per woman continues, in the year 2000 there will be 6.5 million children in Chile, almost 50 percent of the total population (International Demographic Tapes, 1980). Many of these children will live in households of extreme poverty with potentially adverse effects on physical and mental growth and development. In South American countries, a strong positive correlation exists between the number of young children (less than five years of age) and the percentage of households below the absolute poverty line. The Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) defines absolute poverty as per capita income below the amount required to purchase the foods necessary to meet basic nutritional requirements (Pinera, 1979; Molina and Pinera, 1979). The coefficient of correlation between the gross national product (GNP) of South American countries and their infant and preschool population (0–6 age group) is -0.61 (Pollitt, 1980).