Alimentação de crianças matriculadas em escolas municipais de educação infantil: as recomendações dos guias alimentares.

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that among all the determinants of good health, the one with the greatest impact is adequate nutrition in early childhood, especially in the first two years of life (Victora, 2016). Thus, the Food Guides are considered important tools for food and nutrition education to be used by health professionals, as well as by the population in general. This study aims to verify the frequency of children who attend the Steps for healthy eating recommended by the Ministry of Health's Food Guides. This is a cross-sectional study, including children from zero to six years old, enrolled in five municipal schools of early childhood education in Pelotas, RS. Mothers and those responsible for the children were interviewed at the school. The instrument used to assess the foods usually consumed by the children was developed based on the guidelines of the food consumption marker form of the Food and Nutritional Surveillance System (SISVAN), in a structured questionnaire format with closed questions. The outcome of this study was compliance with the Steps of the food guides by children enrolled in five schools. Of the total number of children (n = 548), 59 (10.6%) were up to two years old and 325 (59.3%) were boys. As for the number of Steps in the dietary guidelines that were completed by children under two years of age, only 3.4% completed eight Steps, and 35.6% did not complete any of the Steps taken by the GACB. Among children over two years of age, 0.2% do not fulfill any of the GAPB Steps and only 23.3% of the children completed four of the Steps taken. It was found that the frequency of taking the Steps guided by the food guides by children enrolled in the five schools was low. This shows the inadequacy of infant feeding, especially with regard to the consumption of ultra-processed foods, including by children under two years of age.