Children's nutritional health: contributions of the family nurse in the parents' perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37914/riis.v8i2.458Keywords:
healthy diet, children, family, nursingAbstract
Background: acquiring healthy eating habits in preschool children is a significant challenge. Nutrition, as a fundamental determinant of health, requires choices appropriate to each stage of the life cycle. Considering the decisive influence of the family on eating behaviors, interventions and health education programs that integrate effective strategies to promote sustainable behavioral changes are necessary. Objective: to identify, from the parents' perspective, the contributions of the Family Nurse to the nutritional health of children. Methodology: a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with family members of school-aged children followed at a Family Health Unit. Data analysis followed the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2016). All ethical and moral procedures were respected. Results: parents recognize the role of the Family Nurse in health prevention and promotion, highlighting their intervention in improving food health literacy. The nurse's support and guidance reinforce parental knowledge and confidence to promote healthy eating habits in children, contributing to positive behavioral changes and gains in family and community health. Conclusion: promoting children's food health implies family changes with economic and social repercussions. In the parents' voices, the family health specialist nurse emerges as a central element of support and education, promoting food health literacy and encouraging healthy behaviors that improve quality of life and generate sustainable health gains.
References
Assunção, T., & Fernandes, R. (2022). Nurses’ role in empowering parents to complementary feeding: a scoping review. Millenium – Journal of Education, Technologies, and Health, 2(18e), e40835. https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0218e.40835
Bardin, L. (2016). Análise de conteúdo (1ª ed.). Edições 70.
Direção-Geral da Saúde. (2022). Plano nacional de saúde 2021-2030. Saúde sustentável: de tod@s para tod@s. https://www.dgs.pt/documentos-em-discussao-publica/plano-nacional-de-saude-2021-2030-em-consulta-publica-ate-7-de-maio1.aspx
Fortin, M. F. (2009). Fundamentos e etapas do processo de investigação. Lusodidacta.
Gallegos, D., & Vidgen, H. A. (2014). Defining food literacy and its components. Appetite, 76, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.01.010
Goes, A. R. (2021). Literacia em saúde parental: dos fundamentos às intervenções. Saúde & Tecnologia, 22, 08-12. https://doi.org/10.25758/set.2237
International Council of Nurses. (2024). Nursing and primary health care. https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/2024-09/ICN_PHC-Report-2024_EN_FINAL.pdf
Lourenço, M. (2015). Obesidade infantil: prevenir é a melhor opção. Universidade Católica Portuguesa. https://doi.org/10.34632/9789725404621
Marques, V.L.V. (2019). Excesso de peso em idade pré-escolar: a influência da literacia em saúde do cuidador [Dissertação de Mestrado, IPVC - Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo]. Repositório Científico IPVC. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11960/2271
Oliveira, J. (2014). Equidade e desigualdades socioeconómicas no excesso de peso e obesidade infantil em Portugal [Tese de Mestrado, Universidade de Coimbra]. Estudo Geral – Repositório Científico da Universidade de Coimbra. https://estudogeral.uc.pt/handle/10316/25436
Ordem dos Enfermeiros. (2015). Regulamento dos padrões de qualidade dos cuidados especializados em enfermagem de saúde familiar. https://www.ordemenfermeiros.pt/arquivo/legislacao/Documents/LegislacaoOE/Regulamento_367_2015_Padroes_Qualidade_Cuidados_Especializados_EnfSaudeFamiliar.pdf
Ordem dos Enfermeiros. (2018). Regulamento de competências específicas do enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem comunitária na área de enfermagem de saúde comunitária e de saúde pública e na área de enfermagem de saúde familiar. https://www.ordemenfermeiros.pt/media/8731/comunit%C3%A1ria-e-de-sa%C3%BAde-p%C3%BAblica.pdf
Resende, A., & Figueiredo, M. H. (2019). Práticas de literacia familiar: uma estratégia de educação para a saúde para o desenvolvimento integral da criança. Portuguese Journal of Public Health, 36(2), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1159/000492265
Rodrigues, V. (2018). Literacia em saúde [Comentário Editorial]. Revista Portuguesa de Cardiologia, 37(8), 679–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.repc.2018.07.001
Saboga-Nunes, L., Santini, L. A., da Silveira, F., Estabel, L., & Moro, E. (2022). 8.K. Workshop: pillars of health promotion and the role of health literacy in the life course approach. European Journal of Public Health, 32(Suplemento 3), ckac129.511. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckac129.511
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Isabel Vilaverde, Marisol Varela, Manuela Cerqueira
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
