Nutritional Status of Children after a Food-Supplementation Program Integrated with Routine

Healthcare Through Mobile Clinics in Migrant Communities in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

This study was done to compare poor nutrition rates before and after the food service and

routine healthcare for children of migrant workers in the Dominican Republic. This study was

conducted in five rural communities in the Dominican Republic.

Introduction

Most of the ten million deaths that occur in children under the age of 5 could be prevented.

malnutrition is a huge factor in the deaths of children and mothers. When a person is

malnourished they are more susceptible to disease and infection. In developing countries

about one quarter of children under five are malnourished. Many factors contribute to this,

which made finding the solution to this epidemic more difficult. Many efforts have been made

in the way of education, from safe drinking water and sanitation, to breastfeeding education.

In 2000 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that food-

assistant programs would be launched in targeted areas of the Dominican Republic. They

would also include routine health care which would help identify the children in need.

Methods

The Bateyes is a migrant community in the Dominican Republic. Comprised mainly of Haitians

and/or Dominican origin. They are not clear on political status and lack potable water,

electricity, and bathrooms. About 200,000 of the Dominican Republic or 2% live in the Bateyes.

They are isolated in their location and economic status. They dont have much access to
healthcare. In 2003 the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia started working with the Dominican

doctors to provide monthly service by mobile clinics.

The Mobile clinics are designed mostly for impoverished families. Each community has a

healthcare worker who helps identify the children and help counsel families on healthy

nutrition. The workers also go to homes to encourage the families to go to the clinic, especially

if they seem to be ill or malnourished.

Study Design

Pre 2005 and Post 2006 data was collected including age and gender, as well as height and

weight measurements. The program also distributed the low-cost food packages. They tried to

focus on families with children in the most need. The food included oatmeal, milk powder, rice

and sardines. They distributed the food as part of a take home program. The only downside

with this method was they couldnt guarantee that the children were the ones consuming the

food. The most severe cases were sent to the main hospital for treatment.

Results

There was an overall reduction in undernutrition between the starting dates. The study

categorized based on weight, height, gender and age. The different groups had varying

percentage of change. The overall results were positive for every group so this would seem to

be a successful study. Working together after this study the CHOP Global Health Program and

local physicians have been able to modify the food to be more nutritional and calorie dense.

This program has set an example that may be copied by other rural communities.

Work Cited

Kavita Parikh ,* Gabriela Marein-Efron , Shirley Huang , Geraldine OHare , Rodney Finalle ,
and Samir S. Shah Pediatric Hospitalist Division, Childrens National Medical Center,
Washington, DC; Pediatrics Residency Program, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Divisions of GI, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Global Health,
Infectious Diseases, and General Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Departments of Pediatrics and Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania