Day care centres as an institution for health promotion among needy children: an analytical study in Sمo 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. : Analytical cross-sectional study. g: Public day care centres/primary health care. ipants: Children aged 0–6 yr attending in 4 public day care centres (n=446) and sample of population obtained during vaccination campaign (n=1626). ement: 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. s: 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). Public Health(2000) 114, 385–388