Introduction:

prevalence of certain diseases varies depending on socioeconomic and cultural factors. The aim of our study was to describe the documented frequency of excess weight, dental caries, iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) in the local paediatric population by country of origin, and to assess whether there were differences based on national origin.

Material and methods:

we conducted a descriptive study of the diagnoses recorded in the primary care health records database. We analysed age, sex, nationality and socioeconomic status.

Results:

The population under study consisted of 81 541 children aged 0 to 14 years. The majority were Spanish (84.1%), followed in frequency by children from Northwest Africa (6.9%) and children from India and Pakistan (3%). The prevalence of excess weight was 14.2%, with no differences between the Spanish and the immigrant population with the exception of a higher prevalence in children of Latin American descent (22.47%). The overall prevalence of caries was 17.8%, with significant differences between the Spanish population and children from other regions (15.13% vs. 28.4%). The prevalence of IDA was 0.75%, and we found differences based on country of origin, with a 10-fold prevalence of IDA in children of Indian or Pakistani descent (5.4%). The overall prevalence of AD was 15.46%, with differences based on national origin; AD was significantly more frequent in children of Chinese (20.46%) and Northwest African (18.58%) descent.

Conclusions:

We found considerable differences in the prevalence of the diseases under study based on the country of origin of the child. The primary care system should implement preventive strategies adapted to the multicultural populations served by our primary care centres.

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