Estatura real x estatura estimada pela fórmula de chumlea em crianças e adolescentes atendidas em um hospital terciário de referência do Nordeste Brasileiro Recife

Abstract

Childhood and puberty are the only stages of human life in which the speed of growth increases and has a great influence on nutrient requirements and, consequently, nutritional status. Therefore, stature is considered an important clinical indicator for estimating basal metabolic rate and caloric needs. Therefore, its knowledge is essential regarding nutritional assessment and dietary management of children and adolescents. The present study aimed to evaluate the applicability of stature estimation methods in children and adolescents hospitalized at a refererral hospital in the Brazilian Northeast and its repercussion in the diagnosis of nutritional status. A cross-sectional study was carried out, approved by the Ethics Committee of the proposing institution, under registration in the Presentation Certificate for Ethical Assessment (CAAE): 51877115.0.0000. 5201, following Resolution 466 of 2012, conducted in a pediatric medical clinic at the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira (IMIP), between August 2016 and February 2017, with children between 6 and 18 years old, of both genders, hospitalized, able to ambulate and/or to have their actual measurements checked by using conventional methods. The Chumlea estimation method underestimated the estimated stature of the individuals and overestimated the diagnosis of malnutrition for eutrophy, from eutrophy to obesity and, therefore, overestimates nutritional needs. It was verified that the method developed by Chumlea (1985) underestimates the estimation of stature in children and adolescents and, as a consequence, interferes in the diagnosis of nutritional status when attributed the parameters proposed by the WHO, classifying individuals as if they had appropriate stature when their stature is actually low according to the parameter A / I, and classifying malnourished, such as eutrophic and eutrophic, as obese when applied BMI / I.