This paper investigated how adequate maternal opinion was about the nutritional status of children under two years of age, who had their growth monitored in health care units. One hundred and eighty mothers were interviewed and, based on their responses, written down in full and codified a posteriori, the children were classified as underweight, normal weight and overweight. This classification was compared with the nutritional status of the infants, determined in accordance with anthropometric criteria used by the health services. According to the results, maternal opinion, as a tool for the early diagnosis of malnutrition and overweight, showed low sensitivity and high specificity. Socioeconomic factors - mother's educational status, age and working position - were not associated with the adequacy of the opinions. It was concluded that the majority of the mothers of children with food problems were not able to actively participate in actions of recovery/prevention because they did not know the infants nutritional status.
growth monitoring; health education; primary health care; nutrition assessment; child
