Nutritional assessment and standard of food consumption among benefitial and non-beneficial children of transfer program incomes, in a school of the Municipality of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2009

Objective: to describe anthropometric and feeding among beneficiary and non-beneficiary children of income transfer programs. Methods: a cross-sectional study with children aged 6-10 years, beneficiary and non-beneficiary, in municipal school of the municipality of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil; the study protocol consisted of evaluating socioeconomic and demographic, anthropometric and food intake. Results: the study included 115 students, mostly with per capita income of up to 1/2 minimum wage; there was high incidence of overweight or risk of overweight; there was greater fractionation between the meals served; significant differences (p < 0.05) in dietary habits were identified. Conclusions: the study findings, the describing of anthropometric profile and dietary habits of beneficiary children emphasize the need to develop actions for food and nutrition education, aiming to acquire a more healthy diet.