Organization of an information system for food and nutrition programmes in Costa Rica

This paper discusses the information needed for multidisciplinary planning aimed at reducing nutritional deprivation in Costa Rica. In recent years, an approach has been developed for organizing data and information so as to define and described target groups of households. The development of a functional classification, a central activity of the Sistema de Información en Nutrición (SIN), is described and a preliminary description of the population groups affected by malnutrition presented. The major objectives of SIN are outlined and the possibilities of applying the same system to other countries discussed.