The Interaction Between Indigenous Identity and Rural Residency in Dementia Prevalence Among Ecuadorian Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: While recognizing the acknowledged difference in dementia prevalence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, most previous studies were conducted in the Global North. This study aims to examine the relationship between Indigenous ethnic identity and dementia status with a special focus on urban-rural differences among older adults in Ecuador.

Research Design And Methods: Data came from Ecuador's Survey of Health, Welfare, and Aging, derived from a probability sample of households in Ecuador.

Ethnic Disparities in Nutritional Status among Older Adults: Evidence from the Survey of Health, Welfare and Aging (SABE) Ecuador.

This study aims to identify those populations that should be targeted by specific interventions. A cross-sectional design was utilized. Ordered logistic regression analysis was utilized to assess the association between ethnic identity and risk of malnutrition.

Breastfeeding practices and complementary feeding in Ecuador: implications for localized policy applications and promotion of breastfeeding: a pooled analysis.

Background: Best practices in breastfeeding are often not followed despite appropriate levels of knowledge and positive attitudes regarding the benefits of human milk. For many reasons, some women do not initiate breastfeeding, suspend breastfeeding early, or initiate complementary feeding earlier than recommended. Usual measurement methods use large sample surveys at a national scale, which are not well suited for monitoring sub-national differences.

Malnutrition inequalities in Ecuador: differences by wealth, education level and ethnicity.

Objective: To describe and quantify the magnitude and distribution of stunting, wasting, anaemia, overweight and obesity by wealth, level of education and ethnicity in Ecuador.

Design: We used nationally representative data from the 2012 Ecuadorian National Health and Nutrition Survey. We used the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) as a proxy of wealth.

Overweight, obesity, and food consumption in Galapagos, Ecuador: a window on the world.

Background: In order to understand why rates of overweight and obesity are so high in the Ecuadorian province of Galapagos, this study analyzes changes in household food expenditures and perceptions and practices related to food consumption patterns. Galapagos is understood as an unusual but not unique case because conditions there graphically illustrate trends observed in communities and countries worldwide. A mixed methods approach was employed: a quantitative component was based on expenditures for foods classified according to the NOVA system, and a qualitative component utilized focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and structured observations.

The double burden of chronic malnutrition and overweight and obesity in Ecuadorian mothers and children, 1986-2012.

Background:: The simultaneous presence of undernutrition and over-nutrition represents a paradox in global public health and is of increasing concern in Ecuador, where chronic malnutrition and overweight and obesity occur in the context of demographic and epidemiologic transitions. Two overlapping trends are present in Ecuador; while levels of stunting have decreased slowly in the past three decades, increasing proportions of children <5 years and women of reproductive age suffer from overweight and obesity.

Aim:: To analyze stunting and overweight and obesity in children <5 and their mothers aged from 15 to 49 years in the context of demographic and household characteristics between 1986 and 2012.

[Nutritional traffic light system for processed foods: qualitative study of awareness, understanding, attitudes, and practices in Ecuador].

Objectives.: To analyze awareness, understanding, attitudes, and practices related to the nutritional traffic light system (NTLS) on processed food packaging in Ecuador.

Materials And Methods.

A qualitative study of consumer perceptions and use of traffic light food labelling in Ecuador.

Objective: To analyse patterns of knowledge, comprehension, attitudes and practices regarding the traffic light label placed on processed food packages to inform Ecuadorian consumers about levels of added fat, sugar and salt.

Design: Twenty-one focus group discussions organized by age group, sex and place of residence. Interviews with representatives of companies that manufacture or market processed foods.

The double burden of undernutrition and excess body weight in Ecuador.

Background: Ecuador's current nutrition policies have not taken adequate notice of the double burden of malnutrition and continue to focus on stunting and to a lesser extent on overweight, without addressing the simultaneous presence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight or obesity (OW/OB).

Objective: The aim of this article was to describe the prevalence and distribution of undernutrition (stunting, anemia, and zinc deficiency), overweight, and obesity in Ecuador to explore the evolving double burden of malnutrition at the national, household, and individual levels and to discuss whether current public health policies are addressing the double burden.

Design: Data from the 2012 Ecuadorian National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT-ECU) was used to estimate the dual burden of malnutrition at the national, household, and individual levels in children <5 y old, school-aged children, and women of reproductive age.