Monitoring of infant growth by health services in Pernambuco State, Brazil

• Published in: Cadernos de saúde pública 2008-03, Vol.24 (3), p.675-685
• Main Authors: Carvalho, Michelle Figueiredo, Lira, Pedro Israel Cabral de, Romani, Sylvia de Azevedo Mello, Santos, Iná S, Veras, Ana Amélia Corrêa de Araújo, Batista Filho, Malaquias
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Subjects: Brazil; Child; Child Development; Child Health Services; Growth; Humans; Infant
• ISSN: 0102-311X
• DOI: 10.1590/S0102-311X2008000300021

A situational diagnosis was performed on infant growth monitoring in Greater Metropolitan Recife and in the interior of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, using the database from the Survey on Maternal and Child Health in the State of Pernambuco, 1998, which included 816 infants (< 1 year of age) and 120 health units. Epi Info version 6.04 was used for the analysis. In the health services infrastructure, 15.8% of the health units lacked infant scales and the Child's Health Card, and 75.4% lacked the guidelines for monitoring growth and development. Of these variables, the first two showed a difference between the two study areas. As for process evaluation, 81.2% of the mothers had the Child's Health Card, 53.1% of the children had been weighed, and only 21% had been measured. Mothers had received insufficient orientation. These variables also showed differences between the two study areas. Care for children with nutritional risk received little attention in the two areas, although there was a difference between the interior and Metropolitan Recife. In conclusion, monitoring of infant growth has not been effectively consolidated in the State of Pernambuco.