Brazilian dietary guidelines: interfaces with the mother and child hospital context

To develop a matrix with potential interfaces between the principles and recommendations of the Brazilian dietary guidelines and food and nutrition care actions developed in the mother and child hospital environment.

A theoretical-conceptual study that included: reading and extracting excerpts from the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population and the Dietary Guidelines for Brazilian Children Under 2 Years of Age; mapping, through on-site observation of the care spaces of a maternal and child hospital (inpatient units, outpatient units, human milk bank, lactation room, hospital food and nutrition unit and self-service restaurant/canteen/cafeteria for patient companions); identification and systematization of potential interfaces between food and nutrition care actions in the selected spaces and the principles and recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines; preparation of preliminary versions of the matrix and its assessment by panels of experts; preparation of the final version of the matrix.

The matrix is ​​composed of two sections: one, referring to the Brazilian Population Guidelines and the other, to the Child Guidelines. Different opportunities for materializing the Dietary Guidelines were identified in the matrix, including food and nutrition education in different spaces, creation of menus aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for patients and workers, reorganization of spaces to promote commensality and restriction clauses on ultra-processed foods in food and nutrition units.

The matrix presents necessary interfaces for the implementation of the Dietary Guidelines in the hospital context, highlighting their potential to support the promotion of adequate and healthy eating, as well as to qualify food and nutrition care in this space.