Segurança alimentar e nutricional na perspectiva de agentes comunitários de saúde

Abstract

The objective of this article is to identify the knowledge and perceptions of community health agents on food and nutrition security. This is a qualitative method work carried out with community health agents from two basic health units in the city of Santa Cruz-RN. The sample was selected for convenience and the data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were done with 15 agents, the audios were recorded, and it was verified theoretical saturation on the content of these. The audios were transcribed and analyzed using the content analysis technique according to Bardin. From that, the grouping of codes was carried out, forming thematic categories. The agent´s difficulty of conceptualizing and differentiating some technical terms such as “Healthy eating” and “Food and nutritional security” was identified. Furthermore, they reported a lack of work on food and nutrition security in basic health units, while other professional categories would be ahead of them in carrying out this work. Although, they were able to identify cases of food insecurity in the territory when questioned, as well as the importance of the Bolsa Família program and family farming as promoters of food and nutrition security. It was noticeable the difficulty of the ACS's in differentiating some technical terms such as "Healthy food" and "Food and nutritional safety". Still, the way that these professionals referred to cases of INSAN in the territory of action is revealed insecurity in dealing with delicate aspects of their work process. Finally, they cited other professionals as a reference to talk about these topics.