Modelo de avaliação do cuidado nutricional à criança na Estratégia Saúde da Família.

Objectives : to propose and verify the applicability of a model to measure the nutritional care of children under five years of age in the Family Health Strategy (Brazil). Methodology : this is a methodological research. The study contemplated the construction of a logical-operational model and the ascertainment of its applicability. The development of the model was based on the implementation analysis and on Donabedian's evaluative proposal for health services. The applicability was verified in 24 health teams in two municipalities in the department of Paraíba (Brazil), with the inclusion of three intertwined levels of analysis (health teams, professionals and population). The results were compared according to the municipality and type of health team by means of Student's t-test. Results : the model constructed contemplates parameters of structure (human resources and availability of materials and supplies) and process (general practices of health professionals, growth monitoring, prevention of specific nutritional deficiencies, context of the Lacta and Alimenta Brasil Strategy and management/intersectoral). The application characterized nutritional care as fragmented, noting deficiencies in the compliance with the growth curves of the child health card and in the National Iron Supplementation Program in both municipalities, and better performance in the municipality with expanded teams with a nutritionist. Conclusions : the model will be able to guide the monitoring, evaluation, management and measurement of nutritional care for children in the Family Health Strategy. The degree of implementation of food and nutrition actions was "intermediate", with a better situation for extended teams with a nutritionist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]