Resumo Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar a contribuição do Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) para o enfrentamento da fome e da insegurança alimentar (IA), ao propor um conjunto de estratégias para que o PNAE possa garantir a alimentação dos escolares neste momento de crise. Realizamos um diagnóstico da IA e da fome no Brasil, analisamos o processo de enfraquecimento das políticas de segurança alimentar e nutricional, consideramos a evolução histórica do PNAE e sua situação atual e, com base nessas reflexões, apresentamos um conjunto de propostas, avaliando seus impactos no orçamento destinado ao PNAE. Apresentamos as seguintes estratégias para o período em que as aulas estiverem suspensas: distribuição de kits ou refeições para escolares, se possível mantendo o caráter universal da política ou beneficiando estudantes das famílias elegíveis para receber o Auxílio Emergencial; ampliar o valor repassado pelo PNAE para os municípios com Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) baixo e muito baixo; manter e incentivar a aquisição de alimentos da agricultura familiar. Após o retorno das aulas, sugerimos as seguintes estratégias: levantamento da IA entre os estudantes, manutenção da equidade da política por meio da ampliação do valor do repasse para municípios com IDH baixo e muito baixo, além de atendimento dos escolares de famílias em IA durante as férias e o recesso escolar.

Objective: To assess the food profile in the public procurement within rural family farming for the acquisition of family farm foods for the National School Feeding Program in the cities of São Paulo state, Brazil. Methods: A total of 122 public procurement within rural family farming published electronically by 99 cities from January to September of 2013 were analyzed. The foods were classified in the following groups: grains; roots and tubers; legumes; meat; fish; vegetables; fruits; processed foods; ingredients; and milk. The cities were grouped into quartiles according to the number of elementary school students. The foods listed in the public procurement within rural family farming were then assessed according to city size. The Kruskal-Wallis test verified the difference between the number of foods in each group and in each quartile (p<0.05). Results: Of all the foods, the most common groups in the public procurement within rural family farming were the vegetable and fruit groups, representing 50 and 31%, respectively. The number of foods in the groups of grains, legumes, and milk in the public procurement within rural family farming increased with the number of students. On the other hand, cities with fewer students acquired more foods from the fruit group, resulting in differences between the quartiles (p<0.05). The group of processed foods was requested by 41% of the cities. Conclusion: Fresh foods were the most common types of foods in the public procurement within rural family farming, demonstrating that the acquisition of family farm products can contribute to school meal quality.

Food insecurity and malnutrition have become serious problems in many countries. In recent years, Brazil has experienced an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity and hunger. However, there is limited information on the status of these issues, and food security assessments are only performed as household measures. Therefore, the use of available databases is essential to expand information and support decision-making in the fight against food insecurity. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between reports of hunger among adolescents and their sociodemographic characteristics. We used data from the 2015 National School Health Survey. The main variable of interest was obtained from responses to the following question: “Over the past 30 days, how often have you gone hungry because you did not have enough food at home?”. The responses were separately gathered from those who reported going hungry and those who did not. Socioeconomic characteristics were evaluated simultaneously. For statistical analysis, a Pearson chi-square test and multiple analyses were performed using Poisson regression models. A total of 101,888 adolescents were evaluated. The variable used to measure hunger was associated with maternal education, internet access, and fruit intake. The results showed a positive association between adolescents who reported going hungry and women, black and indigenous adolescent students living in households with more than five people, adolescents not living with their father, and adolescents planning to work or not knowing what they will do after completing the ninth grade. The results demonstrate that it is possible to use secondary data with a single question to assess, monitor, and provide insights into how food security impacts the sociodemographic groups differently.

No abstract

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) encompasses a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and psychomotor dysfunction. Although HE is a frequent complication of liver cirrhosis, the neurobiological substrates responsible for its clinical manifestations are largely unclear. In the present study, male Wistar rats were bile duct-ligated (BDL), a procedure which induces liver cirrhosis, and on the 21 st day after surgery tested in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and in an open field for anxiety and locomotor activity measurements. Analysis of Fos protein immunoreactivity (Fos-ir) was used to better understand the neurobiological alterations present in BDL animals. Plasma levels of ammonia were quantified and histopathological analysis of the livers was performed. BDL rats showed a significant decrease in the percentage of entries and time spent in the open arms of the EPM, an anxiogenic effect. These animals also presented significant decreases in Fos-ir in the lateral septal nucleus and medial amygdalar nucleus. Their ammonia plasma levels were significantly higher when compared to the sham group and the diagnosis of cirrhosis was confirmed by histopathological analysis. These results indicate that the BDL model induces anxiogenic results, possibly related to changes in the activation of anxiety-mediating circuitries and to increases in ammonia plasma levels.