Educational workshop for Primary Health Care professionals as a strategy to promote healthy complementary feeding in Acre, Brazilian Amazon

ABSTRACT

Adequate and healthy nutrition is crucial for child development, especially in the first 1,000 days of life. Since unhealthy eating is a modifiable risk factor for diseases and malnutrition, actions that promote the guidelines of the ‘Food guide for Brazilian children under 2 years old’ are necessary. This report shares the process of planning, building, disseminating, offering, and evaluating a virtual workshop for professionals in Primary Health Care in Acre, Western Brazilian Amazon, highlighting the challenges encountered and lessons learned. The workshop had 170 participants and was asynchronous to facilitate access for participants given the low availability of time and instability of the internet signal in the region. The use of different virtual tools favored dialogue between the participants and the workshop coordinators. Participants reported preferring short videos with animations, and the content considered most important addressed anthropometric assessment, food processing and classification, and food challenges. The importance of partnerships with health departments is highlighted for the adequate planning and dissemination of the workshop, and the collaboration of researchers and professionals in the field for the definition and elaboration of relevant content.

KEYWORDS
Maternal and child health; Primary Health Care; Health education