Nutritional and morbidity profile of children in a public day care center

Abstract

Child day care centers are important social tools for child health promotion. This quantitative cross-sectional study intended to describe the nutritional and morbidity profile of children attending a public day care center in the city of São Paulo. The sample was made up of 146 children under 5 years old. Parents/guardians were interviewed to obtain socioeconomic data and material and infanthealth data. Body weight and height were measured and palmar pallor was examined. Nutritional status was characterized by weight/age, height/age and weight/height index. Malnutrition was defined with the cut-off recommended by the World Health Organization (< -2 Z score). Anemia (Hemoglobin < 11g/dL) was characterized by laboratorial examining in the six previous months and palmar pallor. Undernourishment was rare. Anemia was prevalent in 43.3% and 60.3% of children had some morbidity in the previous 15 days. Respiratory problems were 79.6% of complaints. The results highlighted that knowing the nutritional and morbidity profile of children attending day care centers is fundamental in order to guide the Nursing in planning intersectorial actions to promote child health.