The authors studied the nutritional status of children from five slums in the Manguinhos area, Rio de Janeiro, using information on weight and heigth collected in one of the "National Vaccination Days". Using Gomez (weigth-for-age relationship), Ariza Macias (weight-for-height relationship) and Seoane-Latham's (height-for-age and weight-for-height relationship) modified classifications, they have shown that the prevalence of malnutrition in children probably presented an important decline in the last 13 years. The group of children aged 6 to 12 months would constitute the age-group most exposed to malnutrition, in its pathogenic phase. After this age, the anthropometric deficits would be mostly in the form of sequels reflecting the so-called previous malnutrition.
Undernutrition; Epidemiology; Anthropometry; Urbam Slums
