The objective of this study was to investigate the process that established the field of Nutrition in Public Health in the state of Pernambuco (Brazil), from 1930 to 1982. This period corresponds to the academic path of Nelson Chaves, founder of the Nutritionists School and of the Institute of Nutrition of the Federal University of Pernambuco. The methodology was based on the analysis of existing written sources, represented by the publications of the scientists involved. The analysis of the sources suggests that the configuration of this scientific field constituted a complex process, defined by the influence of distinct interests, produced both internally and externally by the scientific community investigated. Finally, this work tries to show how a specific group of scientists, starting from their own concerns to seek solutions to children's malnutrition in the state of Pernambuco, created what is commonly called the nutritional humanist-ecological paradigm, thus contributing to the institutionalization of the field of Nutrition in Public Health in Brazil.
nutrition; public health; history of nutrition; scientific production