The impact of child malnutrition on the teaching-learning process of schoolchildren

Abstract

Introduction: malnutrition is a state of nutritional imbalance that results from insufficient intake of nutrients to meet normal physiological needs. The causes, inadequate food intake in quantity and quality required to meet the needs of the body during growth and psychomotor development, childhood malnutrition, which affects children under 5 years of age worldwide, associated with social and economic determinants in the most countries in the region. In Ecuador it affects 27,2 % of children under 2 years of age, this is the result of inadequate or insufficient nutrition. Objectives: determine the number of infants who are suffering from child malnutrition under 3 to 5 years of age E.G.B. Republic of Colombia, from the Saquisilí canton. Methods: a cross-sectional, quantitative design study with descriptive scope was carried out. Three instruments were used, the first instrument was the WHO growth curve, structured by percentiles, the second was the survey directed at parents, and the third instrument was a questionnaire to assess development-learning. Results: the results obtained in this research describe that 90 % exclusively maintained breast milk during the first six months of life, being a protective factor for the children's immune system. In the final results obtained from the research, mild malnutrition is reflected. In 36,7 % of children, and a significant 20 % of these children suffer from moderate malnutrition, which can indirectly affect their learning development. Conclusions: in this sense, child malnutrition can be reduced by improving levels of maternal education and government policies to promote income redistribution, since the highest percentage of malnourished children belongs to the lowest poverty quintile