Educational workshop for Primary Health Care professionals as a strategy to promote healthy complementary feeding in Acre, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Adequate and healthy nutrition is crucial for child development, especially in the first 1,000 days of life.  Since unhealthy eating is a modifiable risk factor for  diseases and malnutrition, actions that promote the  guidelines of the ‘Food guide for Brazilian children  under 2 years old’ are necessary. This report shares  the process of planning, building, disseminating,  offering, and evaluating a virtual workshop for  professionals in Primary Health Care in Acre, Western  Brazilian Amazon, highlighting the challenges  encountered and lessons learned. The workshop had  170 participants and was asynchronous to facilitate  access for participants given the low availability of  time and instability of the internet signal in the region. The use of different virtual tools favored dialogue  between the participants and the workshop  coordinators. Participants reported preferring short  videos with animations, and the content considered  most important addressed anthropometric assessment, food processing and classification, and  food challenges. The importance of partnerships with health departments is highlighted for the adequate  planning and dissemination of the workshop, and the  collaboration of researchers and professionals in the  field for the definition and elaboration of relevant  content.