Perfil metabólico de crianças com nanismo nutricional atendidas no Centro de Recuperação e Educação Nutricional CREN/AL

Abstract

Malnutrition, when it is chronic disease in childhood, causes a reduction in growth and endocrine adaptive changes to ensure the maintenance of life. In this regard, the IGF-1 and cortisol have been identified as markers of nutritional status of children with growth deficiency. These high levels of cortisol and low levels of IGF-1 favor gliconoegenese and release of fatty acids by adipose tissue and inhibit the action of GH-dependent somatomedin-C on the growth. For these reasons, it is also important to investigate levels of total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Associated with energy deficiency, observed in these malnourished children, there is a lack of vitamins and minerals. Anemia due to iron deficiency is currently the most common nutritional deficiency in the world, followed by vitamin A deficiency. The iron and vitamin A are essential for normal growth and development. In addition to inadequate food intake, intestinal parasites have been considered important factors in the etiology of the anemia and the malnutrition. In this context, this study found a population with a poor and homogeneous socio-economic status, where the number of children was associated with the degree of malnutrition presented by the children studied (p = 0.03). Most of the children had between 12 and 36 months, was poly-infected (79.7%) and anemic (44.3%), the latter also highly associated with the degree of malnutrition (p = 0.01). For the levels of cortisol, the majority of children were in normal limits. Moreover, most of the levels of IGF-1 was next to the lower limit, showing its fall during the chronic malnutrition and its association with the same (p = 0.02). The results of lipid profile revealed that the vast majority of children had at least one type of dyslipidemia (98.9%) and low levels of HDL was associated with the degree of malnutrition (p = 0.02). It is, therefore, that chronic malnutrition presented by the children studied generates endocrine adaptations that cause permanent changes in lipid profile.