Urban Areas Of Peru Research Articles

Rural and agricultural finance: emerging practices from Peruvian financial institutions

The formal financial system in Peru provides very limited rural and agricultural finance services and most financial institutions focus uniquely on serving urban clients. If financial institutions lend to agriculture at all, it is primarily to large agro-processors or input suppliers, rather than to farmers directly. Even microfinance providers, which are more inclined to serve the needs of the rural poor, focus on the urban areas of Peru. Given the Peruvian microfinance industry's 20 per cent growth last year, microfinance providers are likely to continue to focus on unserved urban markets, which are easier to serve than rural markets. However, several financial institutions in Peru are making efforts to serve poor clients with a variety of rural and agricultural finance product and process innovations that reduce transaction costs and manage risks. This article captures some of the emerging products and processes of four Peruvian financial institutions, which may have applicability to other countries as well.

We Know Much about What to Do but Little about How to Do it: Experiences with a Weekly Multimicronutrient Supplementation Campaign

Global population growth is concentrated in urban areas, but there is little understanding of how to implement the necessary interventions to control food and nutrition insecurity. In the urban area of Peru, food insecurity is characterized mainly by micronutrient deficiencies and not by energy deficiency. To increase the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of weekly multimicronutrient supplementation programs in poor urban communities. A series of operational studies were conducted of preventive weekly multimicronutrient supplementation to reduce micronutrient-deficiency anemia in a population consisting of 8,081 children under 5 years of age and 20,082 women and adolescent girls of reproductive age (12 through 44 years). This is one of a series of papers that describe in as much detail as possible the experiences of a multimicronutrient intervention program for poor urban mothers and their young children and summarizes the lessons learned for consideration of future programming. This paper shows that such programs can achieve a high compliance with good training of program staff involvement of the community, education and motivation of beneficiaries, adequate supplies, and careful monitoring.

Poverty is a predictor of non-communicable disease among adults in Peruvian cities

Background. Rapid health and nutrition transitional changes are resulting in greater prominence of non-communicable disease (NCD) in Latin America, particularly among the poor. Objective. The study aims to examine the extent to which NCD pxfsrevails in Peru and the socioeconomic status (SES) as a risk factor. Design. Between 1998 and 2000, health surveys and clinical assessments were completed on 2337 adults in six cities, 18 to 60 years of age. Stratified by social class, multi-staged random sampling was used. Anthropometric data, blood pressure and serum samples were collected. Results. Adjusting for age, hypertension, low HDL cholesterol, high total cholesterol and diabetes was found in 47%, 40%, 21% and 17% of women and in 44%, 38%, 27% and 19% of men, respectively. Over one quarter of the population exhibited multiple risk factors, not including overweight and obesity. Across all study sites, lowest SES revealed highest burden of NCD and appeared as an independent risk factor for associated NCD indicators. Conclusion. The high prevalence of NCD in urban areas of Peru is not only associated with excess body weight, but also with poverty itself. The greater burden of NCD in the poorest areas of society requires a better understanding of causal determinants and may have implications in terms of public health policies and interventions.

353 Occurrence of Lactobacillus Reuteri, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in Human Breast Milk

Background: Human milk, considered ideal with respect to the optimal nutrition for the infants, not only contains nutritional substrates but also commensal bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species. It can be postulated that mothers in rural areas have higher incidence of these bacteria compared to mothers from urban environments. Aim: To investigate the occurrence of lactobacilli, particularly L. reuteri and bifidobacteria in the milk of nursing mothers and to compare the frequencies in different countries and between different areas within those countries. Methods: Breast milk samples were collected from 226 women living in urban or rural areas in Sweden, Israel, South Africa, Japan, Peru, Korea and Denmark. The numbers of total lactobacilli, L. reuteri and bifidobacteria were analysed using conventional bacterial cultivation methods. Results: The isolation rates varied from 50% L. reuteri positive samples from rural areas in Japan and Sweden to negative samples from urban areas in Peru, Denmark and Israel. Overall, 12% of the mothers had detectable L. reuteri counts. 100 percent of mothers milk from rural samples from Japan and 79% from Korea was positive for bifidobacteria whilst mothers from these areas in Denmark, Peru and Sweden had low or non-detectable levels. Among the samples from the rural areas approximately 50% of the Israeli, Japanese and Korean samples had positive total lactobacilli levels. In comparison the urban samples from Israel, Peru and Denmark contain about 20% positive total lactobacilli counts. Conclusion: Breast milk microbiota varies between different countries and parts of the world. Japanese breast milk shows the highest frequency of colonisation with L. reuteri and Japanese and Korean mothers have higher bifidobacteria and total lactobacilli counts in their breast milk compared to mothers from other countries. Breast milk from rural areas contains more lactic acid bacteria than milk from urban areas.

Understanding sources and types of social capital in Peru

Social capital is broadly defined as the 'value' of social relationships. A substantial amount of work has been conducted into the role of social capital, but little of it has focused on Latin America and Peru in particular. Standard tools are often used to measure social capital in different cultural settings. We argue that while there are common themes, the exact nature of social capital is dependent upon the specific norms of behaviour, networks and organizations that characterize a given setting. Social capital is a multidimensional and culturally specific concept. The contribution that different organizations and networks make to different aspects of social capital varies by setting (rural/urban), person involved (male/female), and over time, highlighting the need for culturally sensitive measures. Two approaches are used to describe the characteristics of social capital in Peru: a literature review of research on social capital in Peru, and qualitative in-depth interviews with twenty respondents from one rural and two urban areas of Peru.

Factores sociodemográficos y ambientales asociados con la actividad física deportiva en la población urbana del Perú

To determine the frequency of sports physical activity in the urban population of Peru and to identify the sociodemographic, economic, and environmental factors associated with that activity. This study utilized information collected by the country's National Household Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Hogares) in the second quarter of 1997. That Survey is overseen by Peru's National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática). The Survey was based on a probabilistic, multistage sample that was stratified for all the urban areas of the country, which was divided into eight geographic regions: metropolitan Lima, northern coast, central coast, southern coast, northern mountains, central mountains, southern mountains, and jungle. In total, 14 913 homes were visited and 45 319 people at least 15 years of age were interviewed. The frequency of engaging in sports physical activity was classified as daily, every other day, weekly, or occasional. "Regular sports activity" (RSA) was defined as engaging in sports either every day or every other day. The preferences for and obstacles to sports practice were also examined. A descriptive analysis of the levels of RSA was carried out for gender, using the chi-square test. The factors associated with RSA were analyzed through conditional multiple logistic regression and analysis of residuals, multicollinearity, and interactions. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Practicing sports at least once a week was more common among men (44.5%) than among women (32.4%), and the same was true for RSA (12.8% versus 10.5%). The age group with the highest level of RSA was 50-55 years for men (20%), and 40-45 years for women (18%). RSA was most common in three geographic regions: jungle (15.3%), central mountains (12.8%), and central coast (12.1%). RSA was least common in two regions: southern mountains (9.7%) and metropolitan Lima (10.6%). The income bracket was not associated with RSA. However, other variables associated indirectly with the socioeconomic level - such as having more formal education, being employed, and having access to the Internet or cable television - and consumption of sports information were significantly and directly associated with RSA. The most frequent barriers to practicing sports were the lack of time, the lack of nearby sports infrastructure (playing fields or courts, etc.), and people's lack of interest. RSA on the part of the members of a household was significantly associated with RSA performed by the head of the household (male or female). RSA is limited in the urban areas of Peru. This is most true for persons who are less than 30 years old, for women, and for residents of the Lima metropolitan area. This low RSA level is a challenge for public health, and it confirms the need for promoting active lifestyles. More study is needed on the observed positive influence when the head of the household performs RSA and on the fact that RSA is more common in urban areas outside metropolitan Lima. These two findings should also be taken into consideration in designing specific interventions.

Rendimiento de niños y niñas de zonas rurales y urbanas del Perú.

Este artículo presenta los resultados en cuatro pruebas de alumnos de cuarto y quinto grado de cuatro escuelas rurales de Huaraz, una escuela estatal de Huaraz, una escuela estatal de una zona urbanomarginal al sur de Lima, una escuela parroquial de Lima y una escuela privada de Lima. Las pruebas fueron de códigos, aritmética, comprensión de lectura y vocabulario. Los puntajes más altos fueron alcanzados por los alumnos de la escuela privada y parroquial y los más bajos por los de escuelas rurales. Analizando las diferencias por sexo, las diferencias se dieron en algunas escuelas rurales y mostraron ventaja para los hombres. En general, más que diferencias de género, los resultados mostraron la pobreza en el rendimiento de los alumnos rurales frente a los urbanos.