Spatial analysis applied to nutritional epidemiology

The epidemiological and nutritional transition process is evident in the coexistence of diseases resulting from nutritional deficiencies such as anemia and malnutrition, accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Both conditions (deficit and excess) may coexist in the same person, family and community, denoting complexity for its approach. Geostadistics applied to nutritional epidemiology could provide more different analytical approaches that traditional epidemiology. The propouse of this work was to analyze spatial behaviour of nutritional disease and food determinants such as malnutrition, overweight and obesity, and anemia, in Cordoba city, Argentina. 2D-variogram algorithm for anisotropic data was programmed using IDL language to study malnutrition, overweight and obesity, anemia variability. In addition, different 2D-variograms were elaborated considering predefined situations: isotropic data, random values of prevalence, random values of prevalence and spatial distribution and prevalences with increasing monotonous values. Our results have to be a spatial pattern in the distribution of the prevalence of overweight-obesity and anemia. This study provides an important basis for further research to understand behavioral, demographic, socio-economic and environmental determinants of nutrition epidemiology.