DEMANDA INDIVIDUAL DE ALIMENTOS E ESTADO NUTRICIONAL INFANTIL: UMA ANÁLISE DA INFLUÊNCIA DO PROGRAMA BOLSA FAMÍLIA

Abstract

This study proposes to analyze the effect of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) on the nutritional status and individual acquisition of food for poor children. With data from the POF/IBGE, we estimated a model that identifies the individual acquisition of calories through aggregate household acquisition, followed by the estimation of a child health production function, by quantile regressions, which verifies the effect of a set of variables, including the caloric acquisition and participation in the PBF, on the distribution of the nutritional status indicator used (BMI), and finally, a food demand system, which allows obtaining variations in the quantities of food allocated to children, given the program’s participation. In general, the proposed analysis was important to understand how specific policy interventions can contribute to encouraging healthy habits, with attention to their impacts on vulnerable individuals.