[Access to food stamps and nutritional status of adults from Northeast and Southeast Brazil, 1997].

Access by adults (>/=20 years of age) to the Workers' Food Program was investigated in a probabilistic sample of the Brazilian population living in the Northeast and Southeast regions. Only 19.9% (Northeast = 11.7% and Southeast = 24.9%) of the working population were beneficiaries of the Program. Receiving the benefit increased in direct proportion to income in both regions, but with a huge gap in the NE: 19.% of individuals in the 5th income quintile and only 3.6% in the 1st quintile were beneficiaries of the Program. Overweight (BMI >/= 25kg.m(-2)) was more prevalent (38.5%) than underweight (BMI < 18.5). Underweight was more prevalent in women (6.1%) than men (3.4%). More overweight than underweight individuals were beneficiaries of the Program (31.7 and 23.5%, respectively). These data indicate that the Program fails to provide food supplementation to the most needy workers in the two regions of Brazil, i.e., its original target population.