Coverage of assessment of nutritional status in the Brazilian Food and Nutritional Surveillance System, 2008-2013

This study aims to describe and analyze nationwide coverage of the assessment of nutritional status in the user population of public health services recorded in Brazil's Online Food and Nutritional Surveillance System (SISVAN) from 2008 to 2013. This was an ecological study of secondary data from information systems. The indicators were: percentages of registration in and utilization of the system; total coverage and coverage of data from the Bolsa Familia Program, corrected according to the user population of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) and described according to the states of Brazil and Federal District, major geographic regions, and/or life cycle phases. The analysis used descriptive statistics, linear regression for estimation of temporal variation, and Spearman's correlation between total coverage and social, demographic, and health variables. From 2008 to 2013, more than 99% of Brazil's municipalities (counties) had individuals enrolled and monitored in the system, and the highest frequencies and total variations in coverage appeared in the Northeast and North. Nationwide coverage ranged from 9.78% to 14.92%, with a statistically significant upward trend. The largest volume of data was for children and adolescents. The Bolsa Familia Program's share of data in SISVAN increased from 57.17% to 85.78%. The municipal human development index and per capita gross domestic product in the states were inversely correlated with coverage, and family health teams were directly correlated. The results indicate persistently low coverage for a system that is intended to be universal. The study showed a significant increase in coverage during the period analyzed and revealed factors related to this increase.