[Bolsa Família Program and child nutritional status: strategic challenges].

The main nutritional deficiencies during childhood, namely anemia and malnutrition, are predominantly related to socio-economic factors. Thus, as the Bolsa Família Program (BFP) is the main policy to combat poverty, it is expected that it will have an impact on child nutrition. The aim was to analyze the differences in the nutritional situation of children registered with the BFP of a municipality located in Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais state. 446 children aged between 6 and 84 months were evaluated, of which 262 were non-beneficiaries and 184 were beneficiaries. Nutritional evaluation included analysis of weight and height parameters through weight/age, weight/height, height/age and Body Mass Index/age indexes and hemoglobin levels, using the Hemocue. The prevalence of anemia, short stature and obesity were 22.6, 6.3 and 5.2%, respectively, and there were no statistical differences between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The beneficiary group initially had worse socio-economic conditions, but with the BFP it managed to financially match the non-beneficiary group. It is possible that the similarity between the two groups, also in the nutritional status, can be attributed to the program benefits, due to the financial funding as well as to the nutritional monitoring required as a condition of the program.