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Background/objectives: Fats, although essential for the proper functioning of the body, have been linked to an increased risk of developing chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intake of total fat and its components (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fats) in men and women aged 15 to 65 years of the urban population in eight Latin American countries., Methods: Survey data were collected from the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS, by its acronym in Spanish), an epidemiological study, including 9218 subjects from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela., Results: In general, 76.2% of the subjects consumed fat within normal ranges (20-35% of the total caloric value (TCV)). When analyzing its components, a majority of the subjects consumed saturated and polyunsaturated fats within the recommended ranges. However, 94.5% of the population does not comply with the recommended maximum intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (10-20%), and only 57.5% comply with the intake recommendation for trans fatty acids (TRANS) (0-2%). Likewise, on average, women had a significantly higher intake of all types of fat compared to men. Finally, the average fat intake by age indicates that regardless of the age range, the consumption of all fats except MUFA and TRANS are within the recommended ranges, with MUFA being slightly below and TRANS above., Conclusions: Even though the fat intake of the population falls within the recommended range, it is necessary to improve the quality by favoring the consumption of MUFA-rich foods regionally accepted, such as avocados, and reducing the consumption of TRANS.

Background/objectives: Choline and essential fatty acids (EFA) are vital for fetal brain development, supporting pregnancy, and maintaining hormonal balance. They also promote overall health. The childbearing years present a window of opportunity to increase the intake of these key nutrients and develop healthy dietary habits. The aims of this study were to evaluate the intake of choline and EFA in women of childbearing age (15-49 years old), identify their food sources and determine if supplements containing choline and EFA were available across the Estudio Latinoamericano de Nutrición y Salud (ELANS) countries., Methods: Survey data were collected for the ELANS, including participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela ( n = 9218; 15-65 years old). Women of childbearing age were extracted from the largest database ( n = 3704)., Results: In general, choline intake was inadequate in all countries, while EFA intake was normal or above requirements. Chile had the lowest intake of choline, and Colombia had the highest. The results showed that some countries had more inadequate choline intake than others. Consuming a larger quantity of eggs helped reduce choline inadequacy, as did including eggs and fish in the diet. The intake of EFA, including ALA, EPA, and DHA, showed variability. The contributions of EPA and DHA were lower than that of ALA, and the results differed by age group., Conclusions: choline intake is inadequate, and EFA intake is variable among women of childbearing age in the ELANS study. More awareness and education are needed to achieve better intake of these nutrients.

Dietary protein intake is vital to life. Here we sought to characterize dietary sources of protein in eight Latin American countries. Survey data were collected for Estudio Latinoamericano de Nutrición y Salud (ELANS); participants were from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela ( n = 9218, 15-65 years old). The primary aim of this analysis was to quantify per-person daily protein consumption by country and sociodemographic factors. Secondary aims: to quantify proportional intake of proteins by source, amount and processing, and to determine the adequacy of protein/essential amino acid intake. Younger groups (adolescents 15-19 years, adults 20-33 years) had the highest intake of proteins; middle-aged adults (34-49 years) had a lower intake, and older adults (50-65 years) had a strikingly lower intake. Protein consumption was higher in men than women. Animal proteins comprised nearly 70% of total daily protein intake in Argentina and Venezuela, contrasting with <60% in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica. Brazil and Venezuela showed the highest protein intake within the highest education level. The higher the socioeconomic level, the higher the protein intake, except for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Proportional intake of animal- and plant-based protein generally reflected the food availability by country. This study presents a pre-pandemic regional baseline and offers a perspective for future studies of changes related to government policies, climate, and dietary practices.

Introduction: The complex humanitarian emergency that Venezuela has been going through for several years has deteriorated the quality of life of its citizens, deepened food insecurity in households and has promoted migratory movements of almost six million people to neighboring countries., Objective: To analyze food security in Venezuelan households to identify the determinant factors that might contribute to the design of evidence-based public policies., Materials and Methods: A non-probabilistic survey of national scope was used in 2,041 urban and non-urban households. A descriptive statistical test was performed to analyze demographic variables and the three component indicators of the food security index (FSI): food consumption, economic vulnerability and coping strategies. The FSI was built according to the World Food Program (WFP) methodology, and a segmentation analysis was applied using the Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) algorithm to specify the influence of some variables as the best predictor at each level., Results: Only 9% of the households presented food security, 69% classified as marginally secure, and 22% presented moderate or severe food insecurity. The food consumption score (FCS) was the variable that best discriminated the level of food security, followed by coping strategies and the percentage of spending on food. Conclusion: Most of the households studied sacrifice their livelihoods to feed themselves and cover the minimum of their nutritional requirements. This needs attention to stop and reverse the deterioration within a framework of respect for the human rights to health and food., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Background: The Venezuelan Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth is the first assessment of information related to physical activity in Venezuela. It provides a compilation of existing information throughout the country and assesses how well it is doing at promoting opportunities for children and youth. The aim of this article is to summarize the information available., Methods: Thirteen physical activity indicators were graded by a committee of experts using letters A to F (A, the highest, to F, the lowest) based on national surveys, peer review studies, and policy documents., Results: Some indicators report incomplete information or a lack of data. Overweight and Obesity were classified as A; Body Composition and Nongovernmental Organization Policies as B; Municipal Level Policies as C; and Overall Physical Activity Levels and National Level Policies as D., Conclusions: 63% of children and youth have low physical activity levels. Venezuela needs to undergo a process of articulation between the several existing initiatives, and for said purposes, political will and a methodological effort is required. Investments, infrastructure, and opportunities will be more equal for all children and youth if more cooperation between institutions is developed and communication strategies are applied.

The project of updating the Venezuelan energy reference values respond to the recommendations made by an FAO experts committee, several decades ago for the countries assuming this work. Because of the dramatic changes experienced globally regarding energy intake/expenditure and particularly variations on the Venezuelan nutritional scenario with the presence of "the double burden of malnutrition" it a review of Energy Reference Values (VRE) from a more integral approach is pertinent. This report follows the methodology proposed by FAO/WHO/UNU 2004 experts committee and energy reference values were established by group of age and gender, also average energy values for Venezuelan population were obtained. For calculation of these requirements, the energy expenditure was included by taking into account Basal Metabolic Rate and physical activity level for some specific groups. The score average values updated in 2012 of 2.200 kcal/dia reported to be lower than those of 2000 at all ages for masculine gender except for the 16-17 age group and for feminine gender just until ages 10-12 years and from there are slightly above the values obtained in 2000.

The objective was to determine the prevalence of iron, folates and retinol deficiencies in school children and to evaluate the changes after an intervention of nutritional education. The project was developed in 17 schools. The sample included 1,301 children (678 males and 623 females). A subsample of 480 individuals, was randomly selected for drawing blood for biochemical determinations before and after the intervention of nutritional education, which included in each school: written pre and post-intervention tests, 6 workshops, 2 participative talks, 5 game activities, 1 cooking course and 1 recipe contest. Anthropometrical and biochemical determinations included weight, height, body-mass index, nutritional status, hematocrit, serum ferritin, retinol and folate concentrations. There was high prevalence of iron (25%), folates (75%) and vitamin A (43%) deficiencies in school children, with a low consumption of fruit and vegetables, high consumption of soft drinks and snacks and almost no physical activity. The nutritional education intervention produced a significant reduction in iron deficiency prevalence (25 to 14%), and showed no effect on vitamin A and folates deficiencies. There was a slight improvement in nutritional status. This study shows, through biochemical determinations, that nutritional education initiatives and programs have an impact improving nutritional health in school children.

This paper describes the Venezuelan health system, including its structure and coverage, financial sources, human and material resources and its stewardship functions. This system comprises a public and a private sector. The public sector includes the Ministry of Popular Power for Health (MS) and several social security institutions, salient among them the Venezuelan Institute for Social Security (IVSS). The MH is financed with federal, state and county contributions. The IVSS is financed with employer, employee and government contributions. These two agencies provide services in their own facilities. The private sector includes providers offering services on an out-of-pocket basis and private insurance companies. The Venezuelan health system is undergoing a process of reform since the adoption of the 1999 Constitution which calls for the establishment of a national public health system. The reform process is now headed by the Barrio Adentro program.

Adiposity and distribution of body fat are important issues in the prediction of degenerative diseases. Measurements of weight, height, circumferences of thigh, waist and hip; triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds; body mass index (BMI), centripetal index (CI), waist/hip (WHR), waist/thigh (WTR) ratios and sigma skinfold thickness (sigma SK) were performed in 836 youths (373 males, 463 females) aged 11, 13 and 15 years. Analysis method included Student t test, ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis and simple linear regression model, with sigma skinfold thickness as independent variable. The sample was divided in two groups (A and B) according with Graffar-Méndez Castellano methodology. Sexual dimorphism in adiposity and differences in body fat distribution were found with a tendency towards peripherical distribution for girls and centripetal for boys. Group A (higher stratum) showed higher values of skinfolds in both trunk and extremities, and a more peripherical distribution than his peers from group B. First component from extremity/trunk and second component from upper/inferior trunk distribution explained 40.2% and 32.7% of the variability respectively. CI and WHR appear dependent from BMI, WHR showed independence from BMI, although significant differences was found by social stratum, reflecting differences in fat topography in boys and girls from group B. These results confirm more adiposity in group A and a tendency towards central distribution in group B. Studies of body fat distribution during these age should include waist/thigh ratio.

This study compares the conicity index (C) with the waist/hip ratio (WHR) in a cross-sectional sample of Venezuelan children (n = 784 boys and n = 735 girls), 3 to 16 years of age. Distributions of C and WHR were compared in Box-plot diagrams. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between indices by age and sex. Conicity captured more outliers in the distribution than WHR and explained 33% to 62% of the variability in WHR in three age groups. The influence was stronger in females during adolescence (R2 = 0.60, P < 0.05). According to the principle of C. most children presented a bi-conical shape, which was more pronounced in boys than girls and which was indicative of a more central distribution of adiposity. These results are related, in part, to age and sex differences in body composition and to the earlier onset of the adolescent growth spurt in Venezuelan children.

Body regional fat distribution has been linked with a metabolic atherogenic risk profile, that starts early in life. Data from a cross-sectional sample of 394 boys and girls, 11 to 16 years, who inhabit a slum sector of Caracas, Venezuela was studied using Conicity Index (C): [equation: see text] by means of Box-plot diagram, Levene, ANOVA, and Scheffé tests. The accepted level of significance was p < 0.05. Results showed significant differences in body fat distribution between age groups. Height and body mass index were used as control variables. C values ranged between (1.02-1.18) in boys and (0.99-1.14) in girls. Boys attained higher mean values. All groups showed variance homogeneity (p value > 0.05) and sexual dimorphism was found at 11, 12 and 13 years, that were removed after controlling for height and body mass index. Differences according to age groups in boys, were removed after controlling for height. Results found conicity index as an alternative method to assess abdominal fat distribution during adolescents years.

Epidemiological studies suggest that body fat distribution in adults is associated with chronical nontransmissible diseases, less is known during the growing years. The current study was undertaken to explore the relationship between level of fatness, fat patterning and some socioenvironmental variables in a group of 449 children aged 3 to 6, living in Caracas, who belong to the poorest Venezuelan socio-economic stratum. Data was analyzed taking nutritional status (weight-for-age), an index of socioeconomic conditions (ICSA), sex and age, as control variables. Using a multivariate analysis we derived first, two groups of households (G1 and G2) as determined by socioeconomic variables, to which principal component analysis was applied to elicited fatness and relative fat patterning through six skinfolds. First component identify level of adiposity, second extremity/trunk fatness, and third upper/lower pattern. Comparison of normal children with those of low weight-for-age showed differences in adiposity and in the upper/lower patterning as detected by the skinfolds involved in the differences: subscapular (-0.53) and supraspinale (0.32) in children with low weight-for-age; triceps (-0.46) and thigh (0.29) in those classified as normal. We found that gender, nutritional condition, environmental variables and age, were significant predictors of the differences in adiposity level; while age and households conditions, appear to be related to upper/lower patterning. The data equally suggests that body fat is more centrally distributed in boys with low weight-for-age. Since these patterns are indicators of risk in the ongoing years, we call tha attention about environmental circumstances.

The iron bioavailability from three typical diets consumed by socioeconomic stratum IV (SES IV--working class) of the Venezuelan population was determined by the extrinsic label method. Although the iron content of the SES IV diets was about the same (250 mumol/d) as that of upper (SES I-III) and lower (SES V) socioeconomic strata diets, iron-replete subjects absorbed 43 and 61% more iron from the SES I-III diets than from the SES IV and V diets, respectively, and absorption from the main meal of the SES I-III diets was 100% greater. However, iron deficient subjects absorbed about the same amount of iron (45 mumol/d) from the SES IV diets as from the SES I-III diets. The SES I-III diets contained more iron absorption enhancers (ascorbic acid and meat protein) and less of the inhibitor phytate, than the SES IV and V diets. Iron absorption from the meals of four diets consumed at different times during the day was also measured. There was no significant difference in the percentage iron absorption from the same meals eaten in the morning after an overnight fast, and when eaten at the customary time of day.

Proteins, some minerals and vitamins, play important roles in erythropoiesis and the survival of the red blood cell. This article deals specifically with the physiological requirements and recommended intakes of iron, folate and vitamin B12. A comparison of the physiologic iron requirements according to age and sex, and the amount of iron which is actually absorbed from the diets consumed by the lower socioeconomic strata of the Venezuelan population; indicates that these diets do not satisfy the requirements at all ages. Such disparity is most marked in children below three years of age, in adolescents and in women during their reproductive age. Failure to do so leads to varying degrees of iron deficiency. This low bioavailability of the Venezuelan diet is also observed in other Latin American diets consumed by the same low socioeconomic strata, which explains the high prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia in the vulnerable groups. The low intake of fruits and vegetables by the lower socioeconomic strata of the Latin American population prevents these sectors from consuming an adequate intake of folate, failing to fulfill the daily recommended intake (3.3 - 3.6 micrograms/kg body weight). This situation is aggravated in pregnant and lactating women who require an additional intake of 300 micrograms and 100 micrograms, respectively. Prevalence of folate deficiency in the first stage may be in the order of 30% in some regions. In the second stage of deficiency, characterized by megaloblastic changes in the bone marrow and an erythrocyte folate concentration of less than 50 micrograms/lt, it could be as high as 40% in pregnant women. Nutritional vitamin B12 deficiency does not constitute a health problem in Latin America. Various surveys in the lower socioeconomic strata have reported normal or higher than normal serum B12 concentrations, compared to well-nourished populations.

Median daily iron absorption was determined in iron-replete males and females between 2 and 19 years of age from the upper and lower socioeconomic strata of the Venezuelan population. A comparison was made with iron absorption of well-nourished children, on the basis of hematological and anthropometric reference values from the U.S. The median absorption level, which was calculated from the increase in total body iron due to growth and the daily losses through exfoliation and menstruation, was also used to estimate the requirements of 95% of the population. When the requirements were expressed in terms of body weight, no significant difference in iron absorption was observed between the three Venezuelan and one U.S. groups, ranging from about 30 to 38 micrograms/kg/day in both sexes between 4 and 16 years of age. However, when the requirements were expressed without division by the weight factor, the requirements of the better nourished groups were somewhat higher than those of the Venezuelan lower socioeconomic population with, in addition, a threefold variation over the 5 to 16 year age range. These findings suggest that the total iron requirements of children at a certain age may be most adequately expressed in terms of the optimal body weight for that age.

This is a retrospective study based on growth and development data published in Venezuela by various authors in the period 1936-1978. The data on height for males of the middle and high socioeconomic strata show growth curves which are very similar to the standards for British children. Likewise, the girls of the same socioeconomic condition follow the British standards, but only up to about 10-12 years of age. After that age, the girls studied by the Venezuelan authors, show a pattern of early maturation with a corresponding lower adult height compared with their British counterparts. There were differences in the growth curves according to the socioeconomic strata. These differences were more marked in the girls data. A secular increase for height was discerned, from the published data, in all socioeconomic strata and in both sexes. The data on sexual maturation showed a tendency for progressively early menarche in Venezuelan girls. These changes in growth in height and age of menarche were more notorious and came about at an earlier age in the upper socioeconomic strata. They were less marked, not constant, and came about later in the lower socioeconomic groups. The secular changes in height and sexual maturation apparent from these data, could be explained by an improvement in the environmental conditions, especially nutrition and hygiene of the population, and also be genetic heterosis from European immigration and with improvement in communications.