Abstract
Incorporating the perspective of rights and citizenship to public policies on food and nutrition goes through the social practice of the players involved in the implementation of these policies. The aim of the study was to understand the nutritionists' perceptions and practices on the human right to adequate food in the context of their professional activities in the National Program for School Feeding. The study was qualitative, developed in 2014, and data were collected by means of a focus group. Eleven nutritionists from municipalities located in the West Santa Catarina Mesoregion (Brazil) participated. The statements were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the thematic content analysis technique. The results showed that the participants had a comprehensive perception of the human right to adequate food, in different dimensions and relations with the aspects related to it. The nutritionists emphasized the importance and the challenge of intersectoral action linked to the community. However, there appeared to be a limitation in teamwork and in dialog with the families, possibly due to fragile theoretical-methodological and political support for intervention in this field. The nutritionists' comprehensive perceptions on the human right to adequate food, although poorly substantiated from the theoretical and political viewpoint, showed the challenge to be faced in vocational training, both in undergraduate and in permanent education.
Keywords
school feeding; intersectoral action; human rights; college education; public policy