title: Day care centres as an institution for health promotion among needy children: an analytical study in São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: 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).
authors.affiliation: Federal University of São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil. edinaksilva@osite.com.br
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Puccini
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Nóbrega
mesh_terms: 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