RESUMO
A series of focus groups was used to study the knowledge, attitudes and practices of students (ages 11-18 years) towards obesity in Jamaica. Fifteen focus groups with a total of 180 students were drawn from a total of one thousand and twenty-two (1.022) students, from two school: one located in the urban area of Kingston, St. Andrew; and the other located in the rural area of Ewarton, in the parish of St. Catherine. Samples of students from the two schools were divided into three categories: 1. young-for-grade 2. average-for-grade 3. old-for-grade. Students were further grouped into all boys, all girls, and mixed groups of both boys and girls. Group interviews were taped recorded, and all recordings were transcribed verbatim. Notes were also made during each session. Following the standard procedure outlined in grounded method of group interviews open coding of the transcriptions was done. Concepts were identified and developed in terms of their properties and dimensions. Similar questions were labelled and grouped to form categories relating to each research question. Analysis of the sessions showed that there was no significant difference in the knowledge of causes of obesity among students in different grades. The majority of male students showed a negative attitude or feeling toward being obese. Yet many prefered women who were heavier or had a lower body distribution of adipose tissue which was refered to as the a "coca-cola bottle shape" (gynoid obesity, rather than women with an upper-body of abdominal distribution of adipose tissue (android obesity). The majority of female students expressed a positive attitude towards gynoid obesity, but disliked android obesity. In addition many of the females student expressed their dislike for obese men. Students' knowledge about the causes of obesity and prevention measures was not very consistent with their dietary patterns. Most of the students who participated in the focus group sessions did not think of obesity as a nutritional disease, but rather regarded it as a sign of wealth, good living, or access to an abundance of food.
Assuntos
Humanos , Adolescente , Masculino , Feminino , Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde , Obesidade , Atitude Frente a Saúde , Dieta , Jamaica , Ciências da Nutrição , População Rural , População UrbanaRESUMO
Guaymi Indian children have recenthy beem identified as a population group who are risk for vitamin A deficiency with numerous cases of xerophthalmia with ocular perforation being reported. A fourday parasitological and nutritional clinic based survey was conducted with 335 Guaymi women and children in the towns of San Félix and Alto Caballero to identify the prevalence of parasitic infections and factors associated with malnutrition. A subsample of 79 children, under 19 years of age, from independent families was constructed for the curret analysis. The results of the study indicated that 20% of the children had a plasma vitamin A concentration less than 20 *g/dl. Significant associations were identified between ascariasis, age, a food diversity score and vitamin A concentrations. Other indicators of nutritional status were also negatively associated with intestinal parasitic infections, and a modernization index, using multivariate regression analysis. In conclusion, this study identified several factors associated with poor nutritional status that can be used by health officers to identify Guaymi children at risk for malnutrition