Resumen

MORALES-RUAN, Ma. del Carmen et al. Food assistance programs in Mexico, coverage and targeting. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2013, vol.55, suppl.2, pp.S199-S205. ISSN 0036-3634.

Objective. To describe the distribution of social food assistance programs in Mexico. Materials and methods. Information about 36 150 households from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2012) was included. The distribution of the social assistance food programs by characteristics as rural/urban locality, country region, ethnicity, socioeconomic level and nutritional status was observed. Results. At the national level, food assistance programs with the greater coverage are Oportunidades (reaching 18.8% of the population), Liconsa (milk distribution, 9.7%) and School Breakfasts (12.2%). The program that assists in the best way the target population is Oportunidades, where 75% of its beneficiaries belong to the "low" and "lower" socioeconomic levels, in contrast to Liconsa and School Breakfasts programs, where only 42% and 55% of the beneficiaries are in such levels, respectively. Conclusion. Current focus and application of the food assistance programs must be adjusted under the perspective of wellness, health and nutrition of the children population.

Palabras llave : nutrition programs; national survey; coverage; Mexico.