Déficit estatural infantil em beneficiários do programa bolsa família: análise dos determinantes sociais e da evolução da desigualdade no Brasil

Abstract

This study aimed to identify social inequalities and the associations between life conditions and child stunting on beneficiaries of a Brazilian cash transfer program. It was developed from three different designs, using secondary data from the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian National Health System (DATASUS, from the Portuguese acronym) and from the Brazilian division of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The dependent variable was child stunting in beneficiaries of the Brazilian cash transfer program called “Programa Bolsa Família (PBF)” and the independent variables were those related to life conditions and public health services characteristics in the 5570 Brazilian municipalities, especially indicators for educational and socioeconomic status, sanitation, income inequality and human development, from 2009 to 2012. Regarding the analysis of determinants, it was initially performed a bivariate analysis using Chi-square test, followed by the estimation of adjusted Prevalence Ratios through the Poisson Regression modelling. The spatial dependence of child stunting prevalence was assessed by the Global Moran Index and the spatial correlation was verified by the Bivariate Moran Index. In order to assess the modifications in social inequalities between 2009 and 2012, the Slope Index of Inequality and the Relative Index of Inequality were calculated. For all tests, the significance threshold adopted was 5%. Results showed that the probability of having a high prevalence of child stunting was higher in those municipalities with low socioeconomic indicators (PR 1.43; 95% CI 1.25–1.64) and higher prioritization of Primary Health Care (0.78; 0.70–0.87). It was observed spatial dependence in the distribution of child stunting (I=0.52; p=0.010), with higher prevalence in North and Northeast regions. It was observed reduction in the prevalence of child stunting and an improvement in socioeconomic indicators, followed by a decrease in the absolute and relative inequalities over the period (2009 to 2012). In conclusion, the child stunting in Brazil showed a significant reduction in the inequalities, a strong evidence of the social determination and a spatial dependence, when analyzed in children beneficiaries of the “Bolsa Família” program.