Factors associated with the nutritional status of children less than 5 years of age

OBJECTIVE To analyze if the nutritional status of children aged less than five years is related to the biological conditions of their mothers, environmental and socioeconomic factors, and access to health services and social programs.METHODS This cross-sectional population-based study analyzed 664 mothers and 790 children using canonical correlation analysis. Dependent variables were characteristics of the children (weight/age, height/age, BMI/age, hemoglobin, and retinol serum levels). Independent variables were those related to the mothers’ nutritional status (BMI, hemoglobin, and retinol serum levels), age, environmental and socioeconomic factors and access to health service and social programs. A < 0.05 significance level was adopted to select the interpreted canonical functions (CF) and ± 0.40 as canonical load value of the analyzed variables.RESULTS Three canonical functions were selected, concentrating 89.9% of the variability of the relationship among the groups. In the first canonical function, weight/age (-0.73) and height/age (-0.99) of the children were directly related to the mother’s height (-0.82), prenatal appointments (-0.43), geographical area of the residence (-0.41), and household incomeper capita (-0.42). Inverse relationship between the variables related to the children and people/room (0.44) showed that the larger the number of people/room, the poorer their nutritional status. Rural residents were found to have the worse nutritional conditions. In the second canonical function, the BMI of the mother (-0.48) was related to BMI/age and retinol of the children, indicating that as women gained weight so did their children. Underweight women tended to have children with vitamin A deficiency. In the third canonical function, hemoglobin (-0.72) and retinol serum levels (-0.40) of the children were directly related to the mother’s hemoglobin levels (-0.43).CONCLUSIONS Mothers and children were associated concerning anemia, vitamin A deficiency and anthropometric markers. Living in rural areas is a determining factor for the families health status.

Content validity and reliability of test of gross motor development in Chilean children

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To validate a Spanish version of the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) for the Chilean population. METHODS Descriptive, transversal, non-experimental validity and reliability study. Four translators, three experts and 92 Chilean children, from five to 10 years, students from a primary school in Santiago, Chile, have participated. The Committee of Experts has carried out translation, back-translation and revision processes to determine the translinguistic equivalence and content validity of the test, using the content validity index in 2013. In addition, a pilot implementation was achieved to determine test reliability in Spanish, by using the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman method. We evaluated whether the results presented significant differences by replacing the bat with a racket, using T-test. RESULTS We obtained a content validity index higher than 0.80 for language clarity and relevance of the TGMD-2 for children. There were significant differences in the object control subtest when comparing the results with bat and racket. The intraclass correlation coefficient for reliability inter-rater, intra-rater and test-retest reliability was greater than 0.80 in all cases. CONCLUSIONS The TGMD-2 has appropriate content validity to be applied in the Chilean population. The reliability of this test is within the appropriate parameters and its use could be recommended in this population after the establishment of normative data, setting a further precedent for the validation in other Latin American countries.

Children, space, and the urban street: an ethnomathematics posture

Dissertation presented for the PhD Degree in Education Science – Curricular Theory and Science Teaching, by Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Methylphenidate use in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A Brazilian Health Technology Assessment Bulletin (BRATS) article regarding scientific evidence of the efficacy and safety of methylphenidate for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has caused much controversy about its methods. Considering the relevance of BRATS for public health in Brazil, we critically reviewed this article by remaking the BRATS search and discussing its methods and results. Two questions were answered: did BRATS include all references available in the literature? Do the conclusions reflect the reviewed articles? The results indicate that BRATS did not include all the references from the literature on this subject and also that the proposed conclusions are different from the results of the articles chosen by the BRATS authors themselves. The articles selected by the BRATS authors showed that using methylphenidate is safe and effective. However, the BRATS final conclusion does not reflect the aforementioned and should not be used to support decisions on the use of methylphenidate.

Sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe the methodological characteristics of the studies selected and assess variables associated with sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents. METHODS For this systematic review, we searched four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, LILACS, SciELO. Also, electronic searches were applied in Google Scholar. A supplementary search was conducted in the references lists of the included articles and in non-indexed journals. We included observational studies with children and adolescents aged from three to 19 years developed in Brazil, presenting analyses of associations based on regression methods and published until September 30, 2014. RESULTS Of the 255 potential references retrieved by the searches, 49 met the inclusion criteria and composed the descriptive synthesis. In this set, we identified a great number of cross-sectional studies (n = 43; 88.0%) and high methodological variability on the types of sedentary behavior assessed, measurement tools and cut-off points used. The variables most often associated with sedentary behavior were “high levels of body weight” (in 15 out of 27 studies; 55.0%) and “lower level of physical activity” (in eight out of 16 studies; 50.0%). CONCLUSIONS The findings of this review raise the following demands to the Brazilian agenda of sedentary behavior research geared to children and adolescents: development of longitudinal studies, validation of measuring tools, establishment of risk cut-offs, measurement of sedentary behavior beyond screen time and use of objective measures in addition to questionnaires. In the articles available, the associations between sedentary behavior with “high levels of body weight” and “low levels of physical activity” were observed in different regions of Brazil.

Occurrence of campylobacter jejuni in diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoeic children in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Campylobacter jejuni was looked for in the feaces of 262 children, beeing 189 with acute diarrhoea, 31 with chronic diarrhoea and 42 controls. The organism was isolated from 14 (7.4%), 2 (6.5%) and 6 (14.3%) of the children, and each group, respectively.

Inclusion of children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) within the Austrian compulsory educational system

Este artigo pretende descrever vários aspetos da segregação, integração e inclusão dentro do sistema educativo obrigatório austríaco. Após uma introdução que contém definições e um resumo internacional, será brevemente descrito o sistema educativo da Áustria. Subsequentemente, três temas de interesse serão debatidos. Primeiro será caracterizada a situação atual referente à inclusão de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais. Esta situação difere bastante entre estados federais. Serão descritos os desenvolvimentos que conduziram à situação atual. Em segundo serão apresentados estudos empíricos recentes relativos ao movimento austríaco que almeja a inclusão. Em terceiro e a título exemplificativo serão apresentados em detalhe alguns desenvolvimentos recentes, alguns planos e visões futuras de três estados federais austríacos.

Quality indicators in the education of children with profound Intellectual and multiple disabilities

Todas as crianças, independentemente das suas necessidades, deveriam ter acesso a uma educação de qualidade e a serem incluídas nas suas famílias e comunidades. Esta afirmação inclui as crianças mais vulneráveis, em particular as crianças com dificuldades intelectuais e multideficiência. Os resultados da investigação sobre a educação de crianças com dificuldades intelectuais e multideficiência ainda não produziram até ao momento informação suficiente que possa ser usada para desenvolver indicadores de qualidade para a avaliação das práticas e dos serviços. A investigação nesta área é limitada por constrangimentos éticos, dificuldades na determinação de amostras e desafios metodológicos, sendo reduzido o número de estudos capaz de produzir a informação necessária. Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir fatores que contribuam para a qualidade do envolvimento de crianças com dificuldades intelectuais e multideficiência em atividades educativas, com base na experiência das autoras e na informação disponível que tem sido publicada sobre este assunto. Com base nesta discussão é sugerido um conjunto de indicadores que poderão ajudar os profissionais a dirigir as suas observações para a qualidade da oferta educativa e para aspetos significativos dos desempenhos das crianças quando envolvidas em atividades curriculares.

Paracoccidioidomycosis in children with different skeletal involvement

The rarity of paracoccidioidomycosis in childhood prompted us to report two cases with different clinical and radiological skeletal involvement. The number of osteolytic lesions, the presence of periosteal reaction and the finding of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in biopsy specimens, were distinctive features in both cases.

Aetiology of diahrroea in children under five at the Bengo General Hospital, Angola

Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death in children under five years being responsible for 760.000 deaths, corresponding to 9% of the total deaths in this age group. Africa is the region with more deaths due to diarrhoea (46%), followed by South Asia (38%). Three quarters of the total of deaths occurs within only 15 countries and Angola is in the 15th position with a record of 20,000 annual childhood deaths. Diarrhoeal disease can be caused by bacterial, viral and parasitic infectious agents and can be transmited through contaminated food or drinking water, or directly from person to person. Rotavirus and Escherichia coli were shown the most frequent pathogenic agents in developing countries. This study aims to identify the most frequent pathogenic agents of diarrhoea in children under five atttending the Bengo General Hospital (BGH)..

Problemática associada à utilização de diferentes tipos de mochila para transporte de material escolar

O transporte de cargas é uma tarefa comum para crianças, adolescentes e adultos, pela necessidade de transferência diária de objetos pessoais, livros e artigos de papelaria para os locais de trabalho ou escolas. Diversos autores apontam que o peso carregado durante transporte de material é o principal responsável pelo aparecimento de dor lombar. Deste modo é importante o constante estudo da temática para a definição recomendações e limites. O presente estudo teve como principais objetivos a caraterização da problemática associada à utilização de mochilas e a determinação do Peso Máximo Aceitável (PMA) e do Índice de Esforço Percebido (IEP) para a tarefa de transporte de mochilas, através da abordagem psicofísica. O estudo foi desenvolvido com estudantes do 7º, 8º e 9º ano de escolaridade e, foi dividido em duas fases. Na 1ª fase foram aplicados questionários para a análise da problemática associada à utilização de diferentes tipos de mochilas escolares. Nesta fase, foram incluídos aspetos associados à identificação do tipo de mochila mais utilizada, as rotinas e hábitos dos estudantes e as características da mochila utilizada. Verificou-se que os estudantes utilizam, maioritariamente, a mochila de duas alças para transporte de material escolar. Posteriormente foram efetuadas medições de peso da mochila, altura e peso aos 131 estudantes que constituíram a amostra da 1º fase. O principal objetivo deste ponto foi identificar o tipo de mochila habitualmente utilizada pelos estudantes assim como, o peso transportado nas mochilas. Na 2ª fase foi efetuado um estudo para a determinação do PMA e do IEP, através da abordagem psicofísica, para a tarefa de transporte de mochila, considerando-se uma amostra constituída por 10 estudantes. Para este estudo, apenas foi considerada a mochila mais frequentemente utilizada, identificada na 1º fase. A tarefa consistiu no transporte da mochila nos dois ombros e com as alças devidamente ajustadas ao corpo, num percurso pré-definido, de acordo com o procedimento experimental. Os resultados indicaram que nem todos os estudantes transportam mochilas com pesos dentro das recomendações da Organização Mundial de Saúde. O PMA determinado pelos estudantes foi de 6.8 kg para a mochila de duas alças e a região dos ombros foi identificada durante todo o estudo como sendo a que apresentava maior intensidade de dor durante o transporte da mochila.

Fifth disease in children living in Belém, Brazil

Acute sera from two children suffering from an illness with an erythematous rash were positive for B 19 virus specific IgM antibody, as tested by a capture radioimmunoassay. The first patient, a two year old boy, presented with a cutaneous rash of six days duration, the second was a four year old girl, sister of the first patient, who was examined at the same time and had a three day history of cutaneous rash.

A importância das histórias na educação pré-escolar

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

Linguagens documentais para as bibliotecas escolares: o caso da Espanha, Portugal e Brasil

Este artigo analisa as características específicas e os processos de indexação e classificação realizados em bibliotecas escolares para tratar e recuperar as informações de suas coleções. Também se analisam as linguagens como ferramentas documentais específicas utilizadas em bibliotecas escolares portuguesas espanholas, portuguesas e brasileiras. Para atingir este objetivo, o modelo de biblioteca escolar é estudado de forma crítica, se analisa o conceito de biblioteca escolar de forma crítica, se estudam suas funções e se examinam as técnicas e os instrumentos que permitem organizar a informação. Entre outras ferramentas, estudam-se listas de cabeçalhos de assuntos como os Cabeçalhos de assuntos para livros infantis e juvenis e a Lista de Cabeçalhos de assuntos para as bibliotecas; sistemas de classificação, como a Classificação Decimal Universal (edição de bolso) ou a classificação por centros de interesse e tesauros especializados como o Tesauro da Educação UNESCO-OIE e o Tesauro Europeu da Educação, entre outros.

Immunization aganist hepatitis B in children from endemic zone: evaluation of the antibody response against the DNA recombinant vaccine (Engerix B-20 mcg)

A previous seroepidemiological study in the rural zone of Vargem Alta (ES) SouthEast of Brazil, showed a prevalence of up to 9% of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in some areas. One hundred susceptible children aging 1 to 5 years old were selected and immunized with a recombinant DNA hepatitis B vaccine (Smith-Kline 20 mcg) using the 0-1-6 months vaccination schedule. Blood samples were collected at the time of the first vaccine dose (month 0) in order to confirm susceptible individuals and 1,3,6 and 8 months after the first dose , to evaluate the antibody response. Our results showed that two and five months after the second dose, 79% and 88% of children seroconverted respectively, reaching 97% after the third dose. The levels of anti-HBs were calculated in milli International Units/ml (mIU/ml) and demonstrated the markedly increase of protective levels of antibodies after the third dose. These data showed a good immunogenicity of the DNA recombinant hepatitis B vaccine when administered in children of endemic areas.