[Population coverage of the food and nutrition surveillance system in the state of São Paulo, Brazil].

This article sets out to estimate the population coverage of the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (SISVAN) at different phases of life and to evaluate its operation in the state of Sao Paulo. The study included 65 cities divided in 14 state regions. The coverage of SISVAN was estimated using data from nutritional status monitoring available in public reports and on government websites, as well as the number of users attended by the public health services. Total users of public health services were obtained by the difference between the total number of inhabitants of 65 cities and the number of beneficiaries of private health plans. Most regions presented reduced population coverage (< 10%). Approximately 57% revealed population coverage of between 5 and 10%. There was a preponderance of records of the nutritional status of children for all regions of the state. A startling statistic was the low coverage for the elderly population, which was zero or near zero in most regions. Despite the efforts by the government to expand and enhance SISVAN, nutritional monitoring in Sao Paulo is still insufficient. This condition hinders the use of SISVAN to produce effective changes in food and nutrition policies.