[An assessment of the nutritional status in a context of socioeconomic change: the Suruí Indians from the state of Rondônia, Brazil]

Abstract

This paper details the results of a nutritional assessment conducted with 147 Suruí Amerindian children 0-8.9 years of age from the Aripuanã Indian Park, Rondônia, Brazil. The data include anthropometry, hemoglobin concentration levels, and stool examinations. The Suruí reservation is located in an area which experienced intensive government-oriented colonization and immigration over the past three decades. The group was contacted by the Brazilian Indian Foundation (FUNAI) in 1969 and, recently, became more involved in the regional market economy, which led to partial abandonment of traditional subsistence strategies. Compared to international reference curves (NCHS), the results indicate high levels of low height for age (46.3%), weight for age (31.9%) and weight for height (6.6%). Anemia (71.2%) and intestinal parasitism (over 75%) are also common. The authors argue that the precarious nutritional status of the Suruí children reflects nutritional problems due to a reduction in the Suruí food production system as well as inadequate sanitary conditions of the various villages.