Avaliação da atuação do nutricionista no programa nacional de alimentação escolar no centro-oeste brasileiro

Abstract

The National School Feeding Program (PNAE) is one of the oldest public policies in Brazil and is one of the strategies to guarantee the Human Right to Adequate Food and the promotion of Food and Nutritional Security. In addition, it aims to contribute to biopsychosocial development, school performance, the formation of healthy eating habits through Food and Nutrition Education actions and to meet the nutritional needs of students in the public school system. Thus, the present work aims to analyze the performance of the nutritionist Responsible for Technical and/or Technical Staff in the PNAE in the Center-West region of Brazil. Na observational, cross-sectional study was carried out, with a quantitative approach, with a descriptive and analytical character, developed electronically through an online questionnaire (Google Forms) with PNAE nutritionists from municipalities in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The questionnaire addressed indicators related to the characteristics of PNAE management in the municipalities and on the profile and attributions of nutritionists who work in the Program. The statistical software SPSS version 22 categorical was used. It was used in absolute frequency and the chi-square test was calculated. P-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of the 219 participating municipalities, all had a nutritionist, the majority being female, with a public examination and with a workload of 40 hours per week. Most municipalities had centralized management of the PNAE (79.0%) and na inadequacy of the nutritionist staff according to their workload and number of students (90.0%). Despite this, most professionals claimed to fulfill the duties inherent to the position. It should be noted that although the results do not directly reflect the fulfillment of assignments, it could influence the quality and frequency of their performance. It is hoped that the results can contribute to advances in PNAE policy.