Malnutrition is one of the major public health problems in Brazil, although recent data show a progressive decrease in its prevalence. However, the validity of national surveys can underestimate the magnitude of malnutrition in poverty areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate malnutrition in poverty areas of Campinas, SP, and efforts were made to locate those urban areas, considering families income, building conditions, and geographic contiguity according to 1991 census. During the study period, a total of 125 children aged 0 to 24 months and their mothers were interviewed, and anthropometric and socioeconomic data were collected. Results show a prevalence of 7.2% of malnutrition, which is similar to the value of 7.4% observed for the same age in a 1989 national survey. Concerning mother nutritional status, the results show that 27.3% of women are at Body Mass Index of 25 kg/m² or higher. Thus, in order to properly achieve malnutrition decline, health promoters must consider the magnitude of the problem in special socioeconomic groups, developing a nutritional surveillance system designed to assist low income people, to whom traditional actions seems to be less efficient.
malnutrition; nutritional surveillance; anthropometry; low income groups; child; poverty
