Situación de salud entre niños gitanos y no gitanos de una comarca granadina

Laburpena

Objective To evaluate the health status of gypsy and non-gypsy children and to determine how far stereotypes need to be eradicated in order to improve decision-making. The aim of this investigation originated in the observation of different behaviors in the population of a health district in Granada, Spain, and in the apparent concentration of certain diseases in the pediatric population of the gypsy minority. Material and methods Data from the clinical histories and variables of the mother and child health program of the Iznalloz Health Center were analyzed and compared. Of these clinical histories 149 (38.40%) belonged to gypsy children and 239 (61.59%) belonged to non-gypsy children. Results Outstanding variables were: a) the start of breastfeeding and its continuation until the third month were the same for both groups; b) gypsy children were up to 3.53 times more likely to be admitted to the neonatal unit than non-gypsy children; c) metabolic illness or degenerative illness accounted for 1.4%, and d) incomplete follow-up was up to 3.24 times more likely in gypsy children than in non-gypsy children.