title: [Food assistance programs in Mexico, coverage and targeting].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the distribution of social food assistance programs in Mexico.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information about 36 150 households from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2012) was included. The distribution of the social assistance food programs by characteristics as rural/urban locality, country region, ethnicity, socioeconomic level and nutritional status was observed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the national level, food assistance programs with the greater coverage are Oportunidades (reaching 18.8% of the population), Liconsa (milk distribution, 9.7%) and School Breakfasts (12.2%). The program that assists in the best way the target population is Oportunidades, where 75% of its beneficiaries belong to the "low" and "lower" socioeconomic levels, in contrast to Liconsa and School Breakfasts programs, where only 42% and 55% of the beneficiaries are in such levels, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current focus and application of the food assistance programs must be adjusted under the perspective of wellness, health and nutrition of the children population.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Ma del Carmen
authors.initials: Mdel C
authors.lastname: Morales-Ruán
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shamah-Levy
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mundo-Rosas
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cuevas-Nasu
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Evaluación y Encuestas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública.
authors.forename: Martín
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Villalpando
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Juan Ángel
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Rivera-Dommarco
mesh_terms: D063105:Food Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D013997:Time Factors