Child malnutrition in Ecuador, emergency in the first 1000 days of life, literature review.

Abstract

Introduction: In Ecuador 1 out of 4 children under 5 years of age suffer from chronic child malnutrition, especially in rural areas, with vulnerable family conditions, unfavorable environment, food quality, nutritional status and quality of life of the population, affecting children in their growth and development. Objective: analyze the influence of adequate care and nominal follow-up in the first thousand days of life to prevent child malnutrition. Materials and methods: A bibliographic review of literature in Spanish and English was carried out, analyzing articles, books, clinical practice guidelines obtained from the following databases: Scielo, Pubmed, Medline, as well as e-books such as: eLibro, ProQuest Ebook Central, Nutrition and Dietetics. Results: Child malnutrition is caused by inadequate access to food, influenced by poverty, lack of schooling of mothers, inadequate access to basic services, lack of nutritional education, deficient public policies, affecting cognitive development, school performance and productivity, increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in early stages of life by having their organs and systems affected.  The nominal follow-up in the first 1000 days of life in the binomial, mother and child, includes comprehensive care before and during gestation; during delivery: comprehensive delivery practices: timely clamping of the umbilical cord, early breastfeeding, immediate attachment; exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age, timely immunizations, adequate initiation of complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, deworming, allows adequate growth and development of children, thus avoiding the onset of child malnutrition. Conclusions: Nominal and timely health care should be ensured in the mother-child binomial, adequate feeding, especially in populations at nutritional risk and socially vulnerable, to break the cycle of poverty, malnutrition and death in the first thousand days of life.