Palmas, the capital of Tocantins, has 84 educational units, 30 as Municipal Center for Early Childhood Education - CMEI and 22 receive full-time children. This quantitative cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the amount of nutrients from the menus served in the CMEI's for macro and micronutrients to compare with the minimum recommendations given by the PNAE for the age group from 1 to 3 years old who attend full-time. Four meals are served daily from menus proposed as recommended by the National Program of Scholarship Alimentation - PNAE, minimum of 70% of nutritional needs for the age group 1 to 3 years old. The menus were submitted to a linear programming model to optimize the best combination of the proposed foods to ensure the quantitative intake of some nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, iron, fiber, calcium and calories. It was concluded that the menus offered meet the vast majority of the recommended macro and micronutrient values. It was observed that the monitoring of the nutrition professional has been of great importance in every process from the acquisition of food to the provision of meals to children using technological monitoring resources. Alternatively, to the model proposed by the ministry, it is recommended to use mechanisms with technological tools/solutions for conference and/or nutritional adjustments in the preparation of menus.

Food and Nutrition Security Menu Day Care