OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the nutritional status of children from day care centers of the public educational system in the municipality of Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional study examined the anthropometric indicators of 735 children aged between one and seven years old, which accounted for 70% of the children enrolled at the educational system of Bezerros municipality in 2008. The indicators used for classification of the nutritional status were height/age (H/A), weight/age (W/A) and weight/height (W/H), all expressed as Z-score values. The software used for data analysis was the Epi-Info, version 6.04. RESULTS: In the studied group, 53.7% of the children were males and 72.7% were from day care centers located in the urban area. The nutritional assessment revealed a prevalence of nutritional deficit of 6.8 and 0.7% according to H/A and W/H, respectively. The prevalence of obesity according to the W/H was 6.1%. A nutritional risk for short stature was observed among males, and a higher prevalence of short stature was verified among female children. There were no differences between urban and rural day care centers in relation to children nutritional status. Obesity was associated to H/A deficits in 10% of the children. The ratio between the prevalence of overweight and deficit of W/A was 1.7:1, being 1.3:1 for children from the urban areas and 5:1 for those from rural areas. CONCLUSION: Short stature and obesity were the most prevalent nutritional disorders in the studied population. The nutritional transition process was more evident in children of rural area.
child; child day care centers; anthropometry; nutritional status
