[Case study: operation of a mother-child nutrition program in El Salvador]

One of the oldest international efforts in their combat of malnutrition have been the mother-child food programs (MCFP). The purpose of the study herein discussed was to detect the problems that affect the operation of the MCFP of the Ministry of Health of El Salvador, and to identify feasible measures to apply in a short term. This work analyzed the following: a) the operation of the program from the selection of the beneficiary to the delivery of the ration; b) the evolution of the beneficiaries, and c) the perception of the MCFP on mothers' part. The study covered 40 Health Services selected from all over the country; the revision of 556 children's files, and interviews to 136 mothers. It was found that the nurse is the person who plays the main role in the MCFP; that the most used criterion to enter or leave the program is the nutritional condition of the beneficiaries; that priority is given to children over pregnant women; that for most of the children there is a control kept on growth and vaccinations; and that what is mostly supervised is food handling and beneficiaries. Study of the children's files revealed that the average age of the children who enter the program is 18 months and at departure, 24 months, with a permanence of five months; and that the weight-for-age retardation when entering and leaving was similar for all the children studied, although it was different when the analysis was made by permanence and by age groups. Mothers' opinion on the MCFP permitted inference of what occurs at household levels with the donated foods; nevertheless, it is a subject that merits further study. Results of the study confirm some findings of others, although since they are specific for this Program, they allowed the appropriate decision-making for corrective measures of the MCPF.