Trajectories of child nutrition, development and schooling in the context of the Brazilian Amazon: opportunities and challenges for reaching human potential

• Grant number: 22/03136-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Initial Project Research Grant
• Duration: March 01, 2023 - February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Bárbara Hatzlhoffer Lourenço
• Grantee: Bárbara Hatzlhoffer Lourenço
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alicia Matijasevich Manitto ; Ana Alice de Araújo Damasceno ; Angela Cristina Bizzotto Trude ; Cristiane da Silva Cabral ; José Irineu Rangel Rigotti ; Marcia Caldas de Castro ; Marly Augusto Cardoso ; Priscila de Morais Sato

Abstract

The discussion regarding the promotion of fundamental aspects of health and human well-being must consider the critical window between late childhood and early adolescence. To this end, information on trajectories resulting from a balance of opportunities and adversities from previous phases, in a broader way, is crucial. This project aims (i) to characterize classes of trajectories of nutrition, neuropsychomotor development and schooling during childhood, and (ii) to investigate their association with metabolic function, body composition, behavioral and sociability traits, and educational indicators among children aged 9-10 years from Cruzeiro do Sul, state of Acre, Brazil. This project proposes a component of longitudinal data integration, based on a panel of epidemiological data from the MINA-Brazil Study, the first birth cohort conducted in the Brazilian Amazon region, started in 2015, in conjunction with longitudinal data from the School Census from Inep (Ministry of Education), considering the expected start in basic education. Through a fieldwork component within the school environment, interviews with participants and school professionals, physical examinations, and collection of blood sample will be carried out, in order to compose the outcomes of interest at 9-10 years of age. Mixture modeling will be used to characterize subgroups or classes of trajectories. Posterior class probabilities will be derived to assign individuals from the study population to each subgroup of trajectory and explore associations with distal outcomes, according to conceptual diagrams. Mediators of interest will include the quality of the school environment and exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic, with decomposition of direct and indirect effects by path analysis. We expect to add complexity to the life course approach through a more integrated perspective to measuring and interpreting trajectories, with potential to inform policies in health, education and related sectors, committed to the construction of human potential. (AU)