Living in Quito or the Galapagos can mark any Ecuadorian citizen for life in many ways, and very especially healthwise. If you live in the capital or in any of the urban centers close to the coast, you are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer or hepatitis than if you live in Santa Cruz or La Española. This has been shown by Dr. Juan Alejandro Neira in a research project led by Rafael Moreno Rojas and Fernando Pérez Rodríguez professors and researchers at the University of Córdoba and Agrifood Campus of International Excellence ceiA3. This research has examined the relationship between Ecuadorian eating habits and disease related to nutritional problems as well as survey data related to nutritional status of two important groups of Ecuadorian immigrant population communities in Andalusia and Murcia.
This work, which has resulted in a doctoral thesis and several scientific articles, is part of a research line opened by the Department of Bromatology and Food Technology of the University of Cordoba aimed at improving nutritional status of developing countries, always on the basis of food sovereignty and in concert with FAO and ceiA3 founding objectives. In this regard, a few weeks ago results of three other scientific papers on nutrition were presented, another one in Ecuador and the other two in Peru and Venezuela.
One is a study of the nutritional status of the population of Ecuador, where there are no nutritional guidelines and food composition tables are not updated since the 60s. Results from this study have been made available to the Ecuadorian institutions in order to offer suggestions for improvement. This work by Dr. Sungey Naynee Llaguno Sánchez, who obtained her PhD at the University of Córdoba, has also established the nutritional content of 32 traditional Ecuadorian dishes.
Moreover, Dr. Guillermo Molina Recio has completed his doctoral thesis under the direction of Rafael Moreno Rojas and Manuel Vaquero Abellan in the context of an UCO collaboration with the District of Bethlehem in Iquitos (Peru). This work has analyzed nutritional status population at a peripheral urban settlement of rural origin. The 25 most commonly consumed dishes have been catalogued and changes have been proposed to combat high proportions of sodium and saturated fats, which seem to be at the origin of the large number of cases of hypertension in adult population and high obesity levels, which is a major concern among women. At the same time, serious problems of acute child malnutrition are persistent and become chronic in adolescence.
The last paper submitted by the research group was from Jesus Salvador Ekmeiro, who has developed the design of food and education programs for Venezuela. Unlike Ecuadorand Peru, in Venezuela there are nutritional studies and specific improvement policies, but still needs greater awareness in the population, which will be pursued through changes in the education model.
The above studies, three doctoral theses and the work an University Expert, were all presented and defended in the course of a week and support the commitment of Professor Moreno and his staff for development of high quality international solidarity research projects.
Living in Quito or the Galapagos is likely to mark any Ecuadorian citizen for life in many ways, and very especially healthwise. If you live in the capital or in any of the urban centers close to the coast, you are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer or hepatitis than if you live in Santa Cruz or La Española. This has been shown by Dr. Juan Alejandro Neira in a research project led by Rafael Moreno Rojas and Fernando Pérez Rodríguez, professors and researchers at the University of Córdoba and Agrifood Campus of International Excellence ceiA3. This research has examined the relationship between Ecuadorian eating habits and nutrient-related disease and surveyed data related to nutritional status of two important groups of Ecuadorian immigrant population communities, Andalusia and Murcia.
This work, which has resulted in a doctoral thesis and several scientific articles, is part of a research line of the Department of Bromatology and Food Technology of the University of Cordoba aimed at improving nutritional status of developing countries, always on the basis of food sovereignty and in concert with FAO and ceiA3 founding objectives. In this regard, a few weeks ago, results of three other scientific studies on nutrition were presented, one in Ecuador and the other two in Peru and Venezuela.
One is a study of the nutritional status of the population of Ecuador, where there are no nutritional guidelines and food composition tables are not updated since the 60s. Results from this study have been made available to the Ecuadorian institutions in order to offer suggestions for improvement. This work by Dr. Sungey Naynee Llaguno Sánchez, who obtained her PhD at the University of Córdoba, has also established the nutritional content of 32 traditional Ecuadorian dishes.
Moreover, Guillermo Molina Recio has completed his doctoral thesis under the direction of Rafael Moreno Rojas and Manuel Vaquero Abellan in the context of an UCO collaboration with the District of Bethlehem in Iquitos (Peru). This work has analyzed nutritional status population at a peripheral urban settlement of rural origin. The 25 most commonly consumed dishes have been catalogued and changes have been proposed to combat high proportions of sodium and saturated fats, which seem to be at the origin of the large number of cases of hypertension and high obesity levels in adult population, the latter being a major concern among women. At the same time, serious problems of acute child malnutrition are persistent and become chronic in adolescence.
The last paper submitted by this research group was from Jesus Salvador Ekmeiro, who has designed a proposal for food and education programs for Venezuela. Unlike Ecuador and Peru, in Venezuela there are nutritional studies and specific improvement policies, but there is still a need to achieve greater awareness in the population, which will be pursued through changes in education models.
The above studies, three doctoral theses and an University Expert degree, were all presented and defended in the course of a week and support the commitment of Professor Moreno and his staff for development of high quality international, solidarity research projects.