The objective of this paper was to conduct a systematic review on the research output of factors associated with the nutritional status of Brazilian children attending public day care centers. A search in MedLine, Lilacs, and SciELO was performed to identify studies published up to 2013. The search strategy included the use of the following search terms: ("nutritional state" OR "anthropometry" OR "malnutrition" OR "overweight") AND day care centers. In the MedLine search, the descriptor Brazil was also used. A total of 24 manuscripts were selected. The most frequently cited factors associated with chronic child malnutrition are: child's age, birth weight, number of siblings, family income, maternal education, and day care attendance. There were positive evidences of the relationship between day care attendance and improved nutritional status. Despite a limited number of studies on the nutritional status of Brazilian children attending day care centers and their geographic concentration, the studies selected show the importance of biological variables (inverse relationship), such as age and birth weight; socioeconomic variables (inverse relationship); and day care attendance (positive relationship).
Nutritional status; Child nutrition disordes; Anthropometry; Child day care centers; Child, preschool
