[Violence against children in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil: child abuse prevalence estimated from school system data].

The official statistics on child abuse fail to reflect reality, since many cases are not reported. The current study aimed to estimate the real prevalence of child abuse in children 0 to 10 years of age enrolled in public and private daycare centers and schools in the city, using information obtained from teachers and staff, based on the premise that they are well-positioned to identify cases, and then to compare this estimated prevalence to the official rate. The instrument used was the Epidemiological Manual, and the random, representative sample consisted of 305 teachers, responsible for 6,907 children.