Propriedade da terra e saude infantil no Rio Grande do Sul: as relacoes entre producao agricola, desnutricao e mortalidade.

The relationships between infant and preschool age mortality, malnutrition, and land tenure patterns in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were investigated with data from demographic and agricultural censuses, vital statistics, and a nutritional survey in urban and rural areas. These studies employed a variety of analytical methods and revealed that young children in areas with large ranches, livestock raising, and high proportion of agricultural wage-earners presented a higher mortality and a greater prevalence of malnutrition than children in areas with small farms, crop agriculture, and self-employed family workers. Children of landowners showed better nutritional status and smaller risk of death compared to children of laborers, although the differential seems to have narrowed in recent years. The conclusion is that land tenure patterns play a very important role in determining mortality and malnutrition of children in this Brazilian State.