Dietary pattern of preschool children during diarrhea in a coffee‐growing area of rural Guatemala

The objectives were to describe and compare the dietary pattern of children during diarrhea‐free and diarrheal episode periods in rural and urban communities of Guatemala. In the dry season, a dietary survey about frequency of foods consumed during the previous 15 days was performed in 399 children under six years, 315 of the children were diarrhea‐free (152 rurals and 163 urbans) and 84 had acute diarrhea during the last seven‐day period (47 rurals and 37 urbans). In the rainy season, 121 children under six years of age were studied. Fifty of the children were healthy and 67 had diarrhea. In the non‐urban communities of the 76 children studied; 31 were healthy and 45 were diarrheal. From the urban area, 45 children were studied; 24 were healthy and 21 had diarrhea. Mothers were asked about the presence of diarrheal symptoms during the seven days prior to the visit. Information about storage, preparation, and feeding practices was gathered in a subsample. Availability and diversity of foods was greater in the urban community than the rural communities, both healthy and diarrheal. In urban children, intakes of potato, güisquil, cream, cereal, and coffee were greater in healthy children in the dry season. In the rainy season, fried eggs, cheese, black beans, rice, avocado, soft drinks and breastmilk were consumed more by healthy children. In the rainy season, bread, white beans, and chili were consumed in greater amounts by healthy children. In all groups, the percentage of children receiving breastmilk was greater in children with diarrhea.

Key words:

• Diet
• feeding practices
• food‐frequency survey
• diarrhea
• pre‐school children
• urbanization
• Guatemala