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Multicenter Study
. 2020 Dec 25;13(1):45.
doi: 10.3390/nu13010045.

Childbearing Age Women Characteristics in Latin America. Building Evidence Bases for Early Prevention. Results from the ELANS Study

Marianella Herrera-Cuenca  1   2 , Agatha Nogueira Previdelli  3 , Berthold Koletzko  4 , Pablo Hernandez  5 , Maritza Landaeta-Jimenez  2 , Yaritza Sifontes  2   5 , Georgina Gómez  6 , Irina Kovalskys  7 , Martha Cecilia Yépez García  8 , Rossina Pareja  9 , Lilia Yadira Cortés  10 , Attilio Rigotti  11 , Mauro Fisberg  12   13 , On Behalf Of The Elans Study Group
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Childbearing Age Women Characteristics in Latin America. Building Evidence Bases for Early Prevention. Results from the ELANS Study

Marianella Herrera-Cuenca et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Latin American (LA) women have been exposed to demographic and epidemiologic changes that have transformed their lifestyle, with increasing sedentary and unhealthy eating behaviors. We aimed to identify characteristics of LA women to inform public policies that would benefit these women and their future children. The Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS) is a multicenter cross-sectional study of representative samples in eight Latin American countries (n = 9218) with a standardized protocol to investigate dietary intake, anthropometric variables, physical activity, and socioeconomic characteristics. Here we included the subsample of all 3254 women of childbearing age (15 to <45 years). The majority of ELANS women had a low socioeconomic status (53.5%), had a basic education level (56.4%), had a mostly sedentary lifestyle (61.1%), and were overweight or obese (58.7%). According to the logistic multiple regression model, living in Peru and Ecuador predicts twice the risk of being obese, and an increased neck circumference is associated with a 12-fold increased obesity risk. An increased obesity risk was also predicted by age <19 years (Relative Risk (RR) 19.8) and adequate consumption of vitamin D (RR 2.12) and iron (RR 1.3). In conclusion, the identification of these risk predictors of obesity among Latin American women may facilitate targeted prevention strategies focusing on high-risk groups to promote the long-term health of women and their children.

Keywords: Latin America; childbearing age women; food consumption; nutritional status; physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentages of individuals in relation to the acceptable percentage ranges of macronutrients among Latin American countries; Latin American Health and Nutrition Study (ELANS), 2015.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentages of individuals by adequacy level of calcium and iron intake among Latin American countries; Latin American Health and Nutrition Study (ELANS), 2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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