Malnourished children: maternal perceptions of care

Abstract

This is a descriptive-exploratory study, carried out at the Center for Integrated Medical Care - NAMI and the Dendê community from January to June 2005. The purpose was to investigate maternal knowledge on care and information about malnutrition. The informants were six mothers of malnourished children. Data collection was developed through semi- structured interviews and participant observation. Research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Fortaleza on the advice of Report N. 023/2005. The analysis was performed through classification and comprehension, resulting in the emerging themes: Behavior and feeding of malnourished children; Perception and feelings of the family in relation to the malnourished child; and the care and knowledge of families regarding malnutrition. The results showed that in a social group, apparently homogeneous, there is heterogeneity among children and families belonging to the same social strata, as well as different behaviors. It was concluded that despite the complexity of the approach on the intervention, these factors represent inequalities on health and enables search for strategies to overcome them.