Objective:

to describe the coverage of school meals obtained from the Permanent Household Survey, Paraguay (2017 - 2021).

Methodology:

observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, temporally retrospective study. The survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics corresponds to a probabilistic cluster design with probability proportional to size, two-stage and stratified in the first stage.

Results:

9,012,061 surveys were conducted, with an annual average of 1,802,412, 52 % (934,784) were male, 62 % (1,125,235) were aged 5 to 12. 81 % (1,467,488) belonged to public institutions and 69 % (1,238,366) of the beneficiaries were in Basic School Education. 58 % (923,994) responded that they received free breakfast or snack and 73.2 % (1,204,008) indicated that they did not receive free lunch and/or dinner. Receiving free breakfast or snacks was more frequent in the 5-12 years age group (51.7 %, 822,835). 54.4 % (865,86) of the beneficiaries were found in public institutions, being more frequent in the Central Department 15 % (237,951). On average, Caazapá and San Pedro had the lowest coverage over the five years.

Conclusion:

the departments with the highest coverage are Central and Alto Paraná, Caazapá has the lowest coverage. Coverage should be improved by prioritizing departments with the greatest social exclusion.

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