OBJECTIVE: To analyze the health of children assisted at public and private daycare centers of a city to the South of Brazil, and to assess its association with socioeconomic, demographic, and health-related conditions. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with dual-stage sampling (n=589). Data collection included anthropometric measures and a questionnaire with variables related to children and their guardians. Guardian's ratings of children's health were classified as very good, good, fair, poor, or very poor. The first two categories were grouped, and the three last ones indicated poor health. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated using Poisson's regression, with adjustment for complex designs. RESULTS: 531 children (90.2%) aged between 1.5 months and 7.5 years were evaluated, most of whom were assisted in public day care centers (75.9%). Only 8.1% (95%CI 5.8 - 10.4) of the guardians rated children's health as fair. Children who were hospitalized in the past year, those classified as black, Asiatic or native Americans, those who spent more than 20 hours per week in the daycare center, and those whose food intake was considered 'not sufficient' by their parents had a higher prevalence of health classified as regular. Parents who reported alcohol consumption assessed their children's health as poor. CONCLUSIONS: Most caregivers had a positive evaluation of their children's health. Skin color, previous hospitalizations, and children's food consumption were variables independently associated with a non-optimal evaluation of children's health by their parents.
child; preschool child; parents; child day care centers; hospitalization
