Health surveillance in day-care centers: analysis of nutritional status in children under two years old

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the nutritional status of assisted children in municipal public daycare centers. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, carried out with 137 children between zero and 24 months old., The anthropometric measures recommended by the Ministry of Health were used for data collection, including height, weight, and body mass index, and, descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis. Results: more than half of the children were eutrophic (70.7%), but 24.1% were overweight, most of them were male. Pictures of thinness (5.2%) were also identified in children between six and 24 months old. Conclusion: the results of the nutritional evaluation indicate a trend towards reduction of malnutrition rates and elevation of overweight in childhood, which reinforces the importance of anthropometric evaluation in the identification of nutritional alterations in children using daycare centers.