PNAE and actions in the State of Rio de Janeiro during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic brought impacts of several types, among them it affected the execution of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), demanding adaptations of strategies and regulations for the continuity of food supply to Brazilian students enrolled in the public school network. This study aimed to recognize the strategies for implementing the PNAE in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), its limits and contributions to the promotion of Food and Nutritional Security for students from Rio de Janeiro, and to analyze the regulations related to the management of the program in the pandemic. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out, with an online questionnaire being applied to the executing entities (EEx) of the PNAE in the state of RJ from March to July 2020. Most of the EEx continued the PNAE, adopting as a priority the delivery of food kits and the transfer of financial resources, carried out through intersectoral partnerships and with the participation of nutritionists, education workers and School Feeding Councils;however, sometimes violating the PNAE guidelines, regarding universality, equity and purchase of foodstuffs from family farming. It was concluded that many implementing entities did not fulfill or partially fulfilled the PNAE objectives in the first half of 2020, enhancing the high prevalence of food insecurity observed in the country.