The First National Survey of Indigenous People's Health and Nutrition in Brazil: rationale, methodology, and overview of results.

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Departamento de Antropologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Divisão de Epidemiologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Leônidas e Maria Deane. Manaus, AM, Brasil
Universidade Federal de Goiás. Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública. Departamento de Saúde Coletiva. Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
University of Gothenburg. School of Global Studies. Gotemburgo, Suécia
Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Faculdade de Medicina. Departamento de Medicina Social. Pelotas, RS, Brasil

Abstract

Background: Although case studies indicate that indigenous peoples in Brazil often suffer from higher morbidity and mortality rates than the national population, they were not included systematically in any previous national health survey. Reported here for the first time, the First National Survey of Indigenous People’s Health and Nutrition in Brazil was conducted in 2008–2009 to obtain baseline information based on a nationwide representative sample. This paper presents the study’s rationale, design and methods, and selected results. Methods: The survey sought to characterize nutritional status and other health measures in indigenous children less than 5 years of age and indigenous women from 14 to 49 years of age on the basis of a survey employing a representative probabilistic sample of the indigenous population residing in villages in Brazil, according to four major regions (North, Northeast, Central-West, and South/Southeast). Interviews, clinical measurements, and secondary data collection in the field addressed the major topics: nutritional status, prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in women, child hospitalization, prevalence of tuberculosis and malaria in women, access to health services and programs, and characteristics of the domestic economy and diet. Results: The study obtained data for 113 villages (91.9% of the planned sample), 5,305 households (93.5%), 6,692 women (101.3%), and 6,128 children (93.1%). Multiple household variables followed a pattern of greater economic autonomy and lower socioeconomic status in the North as compared to other regions. For non-pregnant women, elevated prevalence rates were encountered for overweight (30.3%), obesity (15.8%), anemia (32.7%), and hypertension (13.2%). Among children, elevated prevalence rates were observed for height-for-age deficit (25.7%), anemia (51.2%), hospitalizations during the prior 12 months (19.3%), and diarrhea during the prior week (23.6%). Conclusions: The clinical-epidemiological parameters evaluated for indigenous women point to the accentuated occurrence of nutrition transition in all regions of Brazil. Many outcomes also reflected a pattern whereby indigenous women’s and children’s health indicators were worse than those documented for the national Brazilian population, with important regional variations. Observed disparities in health indicators underscore that basic healthcare and sanitation services are not yet as widely available in Brazil’s indigenous communities as they are in the rest of the country.

Keywords in Portuguese

Brasil, Índios Sul-Americanos, Região Norte, Saúde de Populações Indígenas, Região Nordeste, Epidemiologia, Região Centro-Oeste, FUNASA, Malária, Região Sul, Diabetes Mellitus, Região Sudeste, Saneamento, Desnutrição, Política Nacional de Atenção à Saúde dos Povos Indígenas, Saúde da Criança, Diarreia, Antropometria, Tuberculose, Morbidade, Saúde da Mulher, Serviços de Saúde, Pressão Arterial, Estudos Epidemiológicos, Anemia, Estado Nutricional, Hospitalização, Sobrepeso e Obesidade, Perfil de Saúde, Baixa Estatura para Idade, Alimentação e Nutrição

DeCS

Brasil, Saúde de Populações Indígenas, Índios Sul-Americanos, Epidemiologia, Malária, Diabetes Mellitus, Saneamento, Desnutrição, Saúde da Criança, Diarreia, Antropometria, Tuberculose, Saúde da Mulher, Pressão Arterial, Estudos Epidemiológicos, Anemia, Hospitalização, Perfil de Saúde, Alimentos, Dieta e Nutrição

Citation

COIMBRA JUNIOR, Carlos Everaldo Alvares et al. The First National Survey of Indigenous People's Health and Nutrition in Brazil: rationale, methodology, and overview of results.. BMC Public Health, v. 13, n. 52, p. 1-19, 2013.

DOI

10.1186/1471-2458-13-52

URI

https://repositorio.bvspovosindigenas.fiocruz.br/handle/bvs/1127

Collections

AN - Artigos de Periódicos

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