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Background: At the University of Antioquia, Medellín, Martha Álvarez Uribe, Alejandro Estrada Restrepo and Zulma Fonseca Centeno in year 2010, conducted a study for to characterize Colombian households in food insecurity according to quality of life. in the results obtained, households classified in the low stratum reported prevalence of insecurity moderate and severe food, very high, which implies that some of the members of the home have had hunger, whose effects carries sufferings psychological and social and family disturbances. Objectives: Identify the relationship between he level of security food and the quality of life in Adults belonging to the neighborhood Great Cove of the Cuenca city. Period 2022- 2023. Methodology: It is a study descriptive, quantitative, worked with a convenience population among 100 people, a questionnaire and a scale were used for the harvest of data in Adults of the ages of 18 to 55 years, population of the neighborhood Great Cove during the period 2022 - 2023. Results: The collection of information through the ELCSA scale and the EQ-5D questionnaire, revealed the level of food insecurity that is affecting the female gender more prevalently and how their quality of life is involved, the more food insecurity the lower the quality of life. life. Conclusion: When there is a degree of food insecurity in the home, people do not usually enjoy a desired quality of life, and female heads of household tend to have a higher incidence of food insecurity.

In Ecuador, currently, the application of ancestral food practices is evident, reflecting a close relationship between nutrition and social anthropology. Food beliefs and practices in the postpartum stage have undergone great changes throughout history, so the need to identify food beliefs and customs of postpartum women who attend health centers in Cuenca in 2022 was presented, a qualitative ethnographic study was applied, 14 volunteer participants in the postpartum stage, 9 from rural areas and 5 from urban areas, the information was collected through a semi-structured interview and the analysis was carried out with the Atlas ti program. As a result of this research, it was observed that the consumption of liquids, chicken broth, chocolate in milk or water are recommended during the 40 days after delivery; additionally, it was mentioned that the infusion of Paraguay leaf would enhance milk production in the mother. Age and origin were not determining factors in food beliefs/customs, since mothers mentioned adherence and dissemination of these with the support of well-being and benefits obtained empirically in a transgenerational way. It is concluded by establishing that; Eating practices are carried out repetitively for 40 days at breakfast, lunch and snack; with the belief that they stimulate milk production and a speedy recovery, they consume traditional preparations; rune chicken broth, milk chocolate or water, aromatic waters, especially from the mountains of "Paraguay" and cereal strains.

In the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, due to people's growing concern about the quality of the food they consume and its impact on their health, there is an interest in studying for the first time their purchasing decisions and knowledge in two important commercialization spaces: agroecological fairs and supermarkets. A sample of 14 supermarket shoppers and another of 14 agroecological fair shoppers, aged between 30 and 55 years, were recruited. Focus group, semi-structured interview and audio recording techniques were used for data collection, audio transcription was manual, and ATLAS.ti 23 software was used for data analysis. The results showed that buyers at the agroecological fair prioritize the purchase of fresh and organic food, but supermarket buyers prioritize the review of labeling. The most purchased and consumed foods at the agroecological fair were vegetables and fruits, but at the supermarket, dry goods, oils, meat, dairy and canned foods. In both places, people prefer to buy food in good condition, well preserved and stored in clean spaces, and they do not know the ingredients and production processes of most foods. In conclusion, between the agroecological fairs and supermarkets, there are clear differences both in the factors of purchase and in the foods, most purchased and consumed, but there are clear similarities in buyers’ knowledge and awareness of their health due to the way they buy.

The nutritional traffic light graphic system is a mechanism that improves the understanding of nutrition labeling on processed and ultra-processed products, using colors: red, yellow, and green to classify the fat, sugar, and salt content of these products. This research evaluated the perception of the use of the nutritional traffic light with the purchase and consumption of processed and ultra-processed products by adolescents of urban and rural schools in Cuenca, 2022-2023, through a descriptive qualitative study. Adolescents in urban and rural areas indicated that the nutritional traffic light helps observe the content of processed and ultra-processed products. Both urban and rural adolescents were concerned about some components of the nutritional traffic light and were confused when giving their concepts about processed and ultra-processed products. The participants from the rural area indicated frequent use of this graphic system; however, adolescents from the urban area showed little interest on it. In relation to the influence on the consumption of processed and ultra-processed products, they commented that it has been of great help in improving their eating habits. Therefore, adolescents in rural areas have a higher degree of awareness of the use of nutritional traffic lights compared to those in urban areas

Background: chronic malnutrition and food insecurity are serious problems worldwide, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 23% of Ecuadorian children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation, as evidenced in a study conducted in Child Development Centers (CDI) in Cuenca, Ecuador, in 2018, where 71.4% of children faced food insecurity at different levels. This raises concerns about the impact on the health and development of preschool children, underscoring the need for specific measures to improve the food security of this group. Objective: To describe the knowledge and attitudes of staff working in the CDIs of the two cantons belonging to Azuay regarding post-pandemic 2023 food security. Method: to address this problem, two tools were used: focus groups and semi-structured interviews, with the objective of assessing the knowledge and attitudes of personnel on food safety in the IDCs. We worked with 5 people from each center and the data collected were analyzed using the ATLAS.ti program. The results revealed a low level of knowledge about food safety in both IDCs, with a greater lack in the Cuenca IDC. In addition, attitudes of mistrust and ignorance towards the subject were observed in both centers. The challenges identified include the lack of follow-up to existing food security policies in the two IDCs. In conclusion, a worrying lack of familiarity on the part of staff regarding food security was identified in both IDCs, attributable to a lack of specific education on the topic. This underscores the urgent need to implement training programs and strengthen policy enforcement to ensure a safe and healthy environment for the development of preschool children in these facilities.

Background: Adolescence is a stage of physiological changes and changes in lifestyle, diet and physical activity, factors that are determinants of variations in nutritional status. Objective: Determine the nutritional status of adolescents who attend the Paccha Educational Unit, period October 2022 - April 2023. Method: A descriptive study was carried out with 167 people. Data was collected and analyzed in SPSS version 21.0. Central tendency (mean) and dispersion (standard deviation) statistics were used. Data were presented with simple and contingency tables with frequencies and percentages. Results: The early adolescence group predominated (48.5%); a mean age of 13.68 years (± 1.65 years) was observed. Women prevailed with 59.3%. A higher prevalence of people with normal felling (43.1%) was observed; and a mean height of 1.52 m (± 7.8 cm) was obtained. Most people have normal weight (55.7%); a prevalence of 26.3% was identified for overweight and 8.4% for obesity; the mean observed BMI was 21.23 kg/m2 (± 3.18 kg/m2). 62.3% of people performed physical activity. 55.1% of people had a medium level of eating habits. 16.8% of overweight people did not perform physical activity. A considerable number of people (12%) with a high level of eating habits were overweight and obese. Conclusions: High numbers of overweight and obesity are observed, which correspond to the lack of exercise.

At word level a varied and balanced feeding and the practice of physical activity are important factors for the development and well-being of the population, especially for boys and girls who are of school age. Objective: Evaluate the feeding, the level of physical activity in school children from 9 to 12 years old of a fiscal and particular educational center of the city of Cuenca; and the safety perception that parents have in the neighborhood where they live. Methodology: Descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study. We worked with 90 children from 9 to 12 years old, were belonging to a public school and a private school of the Cuenca city. The data were collected through of tablets, where there was a compilation of the validated questionnaires in the virtual platform KoboToolBox, to later be analyzed using the system for statistical analysis STATA. Results: Of the 90 children, 67% of the population are not active, of this proportion, more than half belongs to the male gender. Similar results were obtained when comparing between the 2 schools. As for the food habits there was observed that in the public school there is a significant non-compliance with the recommendations for fruit consumption (p <0.05). With respect to the safety perception of the general population, as well as public and private school, on a scale of 1 to 4 for both security and crime as well as for the aesthetics of the neighborhood and road and car safety; they found themselves at a level of 2.

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of adolescents attending the College "San Luis Beltrán”. Methodology: We performed a study of participatory action research type in 323 adolescents of the College "San Luis Beltran" of the Cuenca city. We performed the evaluation of nutritional status by obtaining weight and height and his correspondence with growth charts from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health. Was filled the Nutritional tab, the food survey and the physical activity evaluation, using a questionnaire developed and validated (precaps). The intervention was performed through talks. Later was applied again knowledge survey (postcaps) to assess the level of knowledge, pre and post intervention. Results: Mean age was 15.5 years, variants of nutritional status were: Overweight, Obesity and underweight. We found 77.7% of normal in the adolescent population, 15.8% overweight, 5.6% obese and 0.9% underweight. Tthe Knowledges in all items was low, on average initial knowledge of the precaps was 45.16% and reached 83.9% postcaps. In practice the most common cooking method, stew food was 40.2%, 56% of the population consumes 1 to 2 times a week unhealthy food, 49.5% consumes 3 meals daily, consumption of dairy, meat, legumes was 1 once daily, cereals from 1 to 5 times daily, fruit 3 to 5 times daily, and sausage of 1 to 3 times weekly. 58.8% of the population practice, light physical activity. Conclusions: the most of adolescents studied presented normal nutritional state, followed by overweight and obesity. The knowledges about topic significantly improved after the educational intervention proposed and applied in general food practices were not adequate, however expected to improve with the intervention due to foreground.

Introduction: Research collecting population-based food consumption data requires tools for estimating portions accurately to minimize errors. Nowadays, such tools are unavailable in Ecuador. This thesis aims to develop a photography manual as a tool for estimating dietary intake among children and adults. Materials and Methods: Eighty-five foods/recipes highly consumed in Cuenca-Ecuador were selected. Foods were selected according to previous research conducted by the Group Alimentació Nutrición y Salud-Universidad de Cuenca and by means of in depth interviews with housewives, and school food-kiosks/restaurants staff. The weight and volume of at least 20 portions served for children and adults was measured for each food item. For each food, the mean portion size was calculated seven portions. Each portion size was then weighted by means of a digital scale or measured using test tubes. Finally, a picture was taken to build the photography manual. Result: The proposed tool comprises 85 foods, includes 381 sheets with 1 photography each one, 227 photography for adults and 154 photography for children. The manual is divided into two sections the first one for 6 to 12 years old children and the second one for adults older than 18 years. Conclusion: The photography manual of Food Portions has been designed as a useful tool for food consumption evaluation among children and adults. The manual must be validated to verify its reliability.