SAUDE COLETIVA

ARTIGO ARTICLE

Acompanhamento do crescimento em crianças menores de um ano: situação nos serviços de saúde em Pernambuco, Brasil
Monitoring of infant growth by health services in
Pernambuco State, Brazil

Michelle Figueiredo Carvalho 1
Pedro Israel Cabral de Lira 1
Sylvia de Azevedo Mello Romani 1
Iná S. Santos 2
Ana Amélia Corrêa de Araújo Veras 3
Malaquias Batista Filho 4

Abstract
1 Departamento de Nutrição,
Universidade Federal de
Pernambuco, Recife, Brasil.
2 Faculdade de Medicina,
Universidade Federal de
Pelotas, Pelotas, Brasil.
3 Secretaria Estadual de
Saúde de Pernambuco,
Recife, Brasil.
4 Instituto Materno Infantil
Professor Fernando Figueira,
Recife, Brasil.

Correspondência
M. F. Carvalho
Programa de Pós-graduação em Nutrição, Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade
Federal de Pernambuco.
Av. Moraes Rego s/n, Cidade
Universitária, Recife, PE
50670-901, Brasil. [e-mail] A situational diagnosis was performed on infant growth monitoring in Greater Metropolitan Recife and in the interior of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, using the database from the Survey on
Maternal and Child Health in the State of Pernambuco, 1998, which included 816 infants (<
1 year of age) and 120 health units. Epi Info version 6.04 was used for the analysis. In the health services infrastructure, 15.8% of the health units lacked infant scales and the Child’s Health Card, and 75.4% lacked the guidelines for monitoring growth and development. Of these variables, the first two showed a difference between the two study areas. As for process evaluation, 81.2% of the mothers had the Child’s Health Card, 53.1% of the children had been weighed, and only 21% had been measured. Mothers had received insufficient orientation. These variables also showed differences between the two study areas. Care for children with nutritional risk received little attention in the two areas, although there was a difference between the