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Nutritional care contributes to the individual being an agent of his food choices, aware of the benefits of healthy eating. It should be guided by documents such as the Marco de Referência de Educação Alimentar e Nutricional para Políticas Públicas [Food and Nutrition Education Framework for Public Policies]. This article aims to reflect on nutritional care, discussing relevant concepts such as food and nutrition education, the determinants of dietary pattern, counseling, and how the Framework can contribute with this process. The main interface points between this document and nutritional care are the need to understand the interactions and meanings that determine feeding behavior, and care should not focus only on biological aspects of nutrition. Emphasis is placed on the professional's proper posture as an educator, which favors the opening of dialogue and contributes to empowerment, promotion of self-care and generation of autonomy concerning eating behavior. Considering the complexity of food choices, instruments that collaborate with counseling and food and nutrition education can significantly contribute to democratic access to healthy food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Food and nutrition surveillance is an essential action within the Unified Health System, because health policies can be created while taking into account the nutrition diagnosis of the population. Objectives: To discuss limits and possibilities of the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System based on reports from health professionalswho work in Primary Health Care. Methodology: This is an exploratory and descriptive study in the municipality of Montes Claros, MG, with interviews conducted with health professionals. Results and Discussion: It was found that the health professionals recognize the importance of SISVAN, but its functioning is hampered by infrastructure conditions (difficulty in computerization and connection), human resources (workload of the nursing team and professionals specialized in the field) and logistics (information system handling and lack of user adherence). Conclusion: The operational problems are reflected in the functioning of SISVAN; therefore the management system has to invest in strategies in order to expand and qualify food and nutrition surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discuss the role of school's cooks within the Brazilian National School Feeding Program, as well as its possibilities and challenges in the actions of Food and Nutrition Education. Methods: Qualitative research, using the techniques of participant observation and Choice Work Dialogue. The studied group consisted of 23 school's cooks from a city in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro state. Results and Discussion: The educational potential of school's cooks is based on the relationships of affection they develop with students and on the qualifications they perform in order to develop new skills. However, the lack of time and of integration with the school staff are challenges for the fulfillment of the educational function of these professionals. Conclusion: The educational function of school's cooks is permeated by possibilities and challenges; hence, it is interesting to value its potential aspects for Food and Nutrition Education and to contribute to overcome its challenges. Thus, it will be possible to enjoy even more the educational potential of this program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The National School Feeding Program, one of the oldest among Brazilian public policies for food supplementation, has, among its goals, keeping children fed in school and promoting food and nutrition education. The students' adhesion to school feeding, however, does not meet the goals of the Program. Objective: This study aimed to assess whether specific food education activities in public schools could improve food knowledge and promote the acceptance of meals planned by the National School Feeding Program. Methods: Interventional study in which three schools with classes of grades 3rd through 5th of elementary school were selected, due to their low performance in games, to have their knowledge about healthy eating and low acceptance of school feeding assessed through the leftovers/ingestion index and through the hedonic scale, totaling 243 students of ages 8 to 13. Data regarding anthropometric measurements, adherence to and acceptance of school feeding were obtained. Educational practices included cooking workshops and classroom activities. Results: Nutritional assessment showed obesity in 10% of the students, most of whom consumed school meals, even though they purchased unhealthy foods to eat during mealtime in school. The performance in the games, after the intervention, showed significant improvement through the results obtained with the leftovers/ingestion and the hedonic scale. Conclusion: Educational activities promoted an improvement in the students' knowledge about healthy eating and their acceptance of school meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]