The goal of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status of indigenous children and to investigate factors associated with nutritional deficits. Weight and height measurements were obtained for 141 Kaingáng children from 0 to 5 years of age living on the Mangueirinha Indigenous Reserve in Paraná State, Brazil. Data on maternal and infant conditions and socioeconomic characteristics were also gathered through face-to-face interviews. Based on World Health Organization criteria (2006), 24.8% of the children presented low height-for-age (HA), 9.2% low weight-for-age (WA), 2.1% low weight-for-height (WH), and 2.1% low weight according to body mass index for age (BMIA). Based on NCHS criteria (1977), 19.9% of the children presented low HA, 9.2% low WA, and 1.4% low WH. 6.4% were overweight according to BMIA. Low birth weight and non-masonry housing construction were associated statistically with nutritional deficits. The Kaingáng children are subject to poor living conditions, associated with deficits in their nutritional profile.
South American Indians; Nutritional Status; Anthropometry
