Influence of the Bolsa Familia program on nutritional status and food frequency of schoolchildren

Objective: To evaluate the food frequency and nutritional status among students according to participation in the Bolsa Familia program funded by the government. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out with students from the fourth grade of elementary school in the municipal capital of the southeastern region of Brazil. Food consumption and anthropometry were investigated by a questionnaire administered in school, while participation in the Bolsa Familia program and other socio-economic information was obtained through a protocol applied to mothers/guardians. Statistical analysis included the Mann-Whitney test, the chi-squared test, and Poisson regression with robust variance, and the 5% significance level was adopted. Results: There were 319 children evaluated; 56.4% were male, with a median of 9.4 (8.6-11.9) years, and 37.0% were beneficiaries of Bolsa Familia program. Between the two groups, there was high prevalence of regular soda consumption (34.3%), artificial juice (49.5%), and sweets (40.3%), while only 54.3% and 51.7% consumed fruits and vegetables regularly, respectively. Among participants of Bolsa Familia program, a prevalence 1.24 times higher in the regular consumption of soft drinks (95% CI: 1.10-1.39) was identified compared to non-beneficiaries. The prevalence of overweight was higher in the sample (32.9%), with no difference according to participation in the program. Conclusion: The study found increased consumption of soft drinks among BFP participants. The high rate of overweight and poor eating habits denote the need to develop actions to promote healthy eating, especially for the beneficiaries of the Bolsa Familia program, to promote improvements in nutritional status and prevent chronic diseases throughout life. (C) 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.