Day care centres as an institution for health promotion among needy children: an analytical study in São Paulo, Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of day care centres in the nutritional state of children belonging to a low-income population, comparing the nutritional state of the children in the day care centres with children in the same population who were given other types of day care.


METHODS
Analytical cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Public day care centres/primary health care.


METHODS
Children aged 0-6 yr attending in 4 public day care centres (n=446) and sample of population obtained during vaccination campaign (n=1626).


METHODS
Nutritional evaluation was conducted through weight and height measurements, using as a standard the NCHS (USA) table and Gomez and Waterlow methodology. The type of daily care received by the children was assessed through a questionnaire answered by the responsible persons during the vaccination campaign.


RESULTS
The nutritional status of children attended in the day care centers was better than children of the same community receiving other types of daily care (OR=0.48; CI 95%=0.36-0.65;P>0.0001). The improvement was related to more than 1 year of enrollment in the day care (OR=0.74; CI 95%=0.57-0.96;P=0.02).
Silva
E M
EM
Federal University of São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil. edinaksilva@osite.com.br
Miranda
C T
CT
Puccini
R F
RF
Nóbrega
F J
FJ
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data