Phenomenological focus on the research and management of maternal and child malnutrition, a shift in the paradigm towards comprehensive care.

Abstract

Introduction: In Latin American and Caribbean countries poor nutrition in children under 5 years of age and pregnant women, since 2015 to date, going back 11% and rising to levels observed in 2010, in several countries in this region populations simultaneously have malnutrition in their different typologies in addition to overweight and obesity, so the development of more focused methods and techniques for the effective management of this problem is a priority. Materials and Methods: Through systematic search, documents were identified and qualitatively analyzed; without limiting yourself to a single type of methodological trend looking for thematic saturation and maximum variability in the perspectives. Results: Approaches and methodologies from comprehensive qualitatives to merely statistical and probabilistic, concepts of nutrition and malnutrition were almost always linked to anthropometric and instrumental measurements and their variables, but also linked to other concepts such as food security, food systems, food patterns, beliefs, myths and experiences; these non-anthropometric concepts are not common observable during individual or group clinical assessment perhaps considering that their exploration and details are not necessary for successful conventional medical treatment. Conclusions: The concept of malnutrition and its management were predominantly linked to anthropometry and instrumental measurements, dealing with what and how much, and not necessarily of how and why it occurs, however, there can be clear elements of change of representation of malnutrition, from clearly defined nosological entities to complex phenomena that occur in social interaction, as well as a tendency to comprehensive methodologies such as phenomenological that propose the exploration of the four aspects of " experience lived" by the malnourished patient(s).