The aim of this paper is to describe the access of Brazilian children to day-care centers in different macroregions, focusing on their nutritional status and considering their income level. The data used was individual information of under six-year-old children (n=10,667) from the Health and Nutrition National Research, carried out in 1989. The overall results showed that day-care center programs favor older children (two-year-old and over). Among children with per capita household income below US$40.00 only 8.49% attended day-care center. For children with per capita income of US$80.00 or more the proportion reaches 28.37%. The lowest day-care center attendance was observed in the Midwest region (only 10.94% of the children had access to the service). The analysis of the nutritional status of children showed a higher proportion of children with HAZ.<.-.2 among those not attending day-care center.
anthropometry; child care; nutritional status; infant nutrition; health policy; child health
