Extension: actions for health promotion in day care in the city Belo Horizonte, MG

Abstract

The present study presents a social extension program for health promotion, which aims at children and workers from a childcare service in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, and provides interactions between the students and the community. Seven ludic activities were performed with the following topics: oral and body care, parasitosis and healthy diet. People involved in the food handling process were trained for correct food preparation and storage. For the purpose of stool examination, 65 proper containers were delivered to the subjects and 26 (40%) of those were returned for laboratory tests. The laboratory analysis showed Blastocystis hominis in 20% and Entamoeba coli in 80% of the samples. A qualitative evaluation of the social interventions performed by biomedicine students demonstrated that the children and workers participated and showed positive responses to all the activities. These findings suggest that the social actions developed by the GEMTI program (Group of students that multiply and transform ideas) were able to reach the proposed aims, stimulating mutual search for knowledge and promotion of healthy habits.