Abstract
Objectives:
to characterize the health status of women and children in a quilombola community in the Northeast region of Brazil before and after certification.
Methods:
the data are taken from two investigations using similar methodologies carried out in 2008 and 2009, among women and children residing in the community. The socio-economic and health characteristics of these populations in the two periods were compared by calculating the Prevalence Ratio (PR), using Poisson regression.
Results:
the studies covered 143 women and 194 children in 2008 and 172 women and 67 children in 2012. The prevalence of overweight (59.1% vs. 62.8%) and waist circumference ≥80cm (59.5% vs. 57.4%) were similar in the two periods (p>0.05). The characteristics that exhibited significant changes (p<0.05) were: per capita family income > 2 US dollars/day (23.2% vs. 67.4%; PR=2.90; CI95%: 2.11-4.01), prevalence of diarrhea in children (10.3% vs. 26.9%; PR=2.61; CI95%: 1.46-4.62), up-to-date vaccination record (80.4% vs. 95.3%%; PR=1.18; CI95%: 1.08-1.30), frequency of receipt of vitamin A supplements (70.3% vs. 100.0%; PR=1.42; CI95%: 1.29-1.56), duration of exclusive breastfeeding ≥6 months (8.7% vs. 44.6%; PR=5.13; CI95%: 2.95-8.92) and prevalence of anemia among children (41.6% vs. 20.0%; PR=0.48; CI95%: 0.27-0.87).
Conclusions:
there have been improvements in the health status of the population, but investment still needs to be made to ensure that health standards in the community continue to rise.
Key words
African continental ancestry group; Ethnicity and health; Health vulnerability; Brazil