Research potential of food and nutrition in the Family Health Strategy: A structured review

Abstract

A total of 54 articles published between 2002 and 2012 in 20 different journals were identified. Ten of these were retrieved from the references section of other articles. Focusing mostly on children from the Southeast region, these studies were coordinated by dieticians, nurses, and physicians. Diabetes Mellitus, high blood pressure, and breastfeeding were the most common topics (n=23). The quantitative methodology was employed by 42 articles, most about diagnoses. Only five research groups studied the Family Health Strategy, despite the growing number of studies in the area over the years.

Food and nutrition surveillance system in municipalities of paraíba: data reliability, coverage and management's perception

“…Recent literature review pointed out the lack of studies on SISVAN in the scope of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) [12]. Furthermore, few studies have paid attention to the quality of the information collected to feed the system [13].…”

Growth surveillance in the context of the Primary Public Healthcare Service Network in Brazil: literature review

“…Two literature reviews focusing on scientific production in the field of nutrition showed similar results, as they did with regard to evaluative research on growth surveillance and child health care. 9,10 It is argued that these disparities are related to the concentration of graduate programs and research groups in the most developed regions of the country, as well as to differences in investment in research. There is therefore a need to highlight the importance of maintaining strategies that allow a better distribution of scientific production in the country, such as the National Policy for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health, which, from 2004 onwards, established mechanisms to overcome regional research inequalities, with the funding of resources to the order of 30% for projects whose executive institutions are located in the least developed regions of the country.…”

“…53 Moreover, it has not been prioritized in evaluative research on its functioning. 9 The results of two recent surveys thus indicatea low percentage of system utilization and coverage in the states of Rio Grande do Sul 54 and São Paulo. 55 Despite the low operational cost of child growth monitoring, which classifies it as a feasible health care technology, 56 the daily life of public health services in Brazil seems to be different.…”

“…7,8 Recently published review articles have enhanced the scientific literature on topics related to food and nutrition actions in the Primary Health Care System. These studies focus mainly on the profile of research groups and actions related to food and nutrition within the Family Health Strategy, 9 scientific nutrition production in the Primary Health Care System, 10 scientific knowledge produced by the Child Health Record as a child health surveillance instrument, 11 the factors that hinder the proper use of the Child Health Record by health professionals 12 and the use of the Child Health Record with an emphasis on growth and development. 13 Given the absence of reviews with a specific focus on failures and difficulties regarding growth monitoring, this aim of the present study was to reveal shortcomings in the development of this action as a way of promoting changes in its operation.…”