[Conceptions in dispute in the use of micronutrient supplementation and/or fortification in school programs for prevention of anemia].

Iron deficiency anemia affects different populations worldwide, and in Brazil it is one of the principal childhood nutritional deficiencies. Different strategies have been proposed by international agencies and the Brazilian Ministry of Health for its prevention. The study aimed to analyze the ideas in dispute, expressed in official documents and narratives by health and education workers concerning the use of nutritional supplementation and/or fortification as a measure in schools to prevent anemia. The study was based on government documents and semi-structured interviews with workers in municipalities that implemented the school food fortification strategy (NutriSUS) in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The ideas expressed in the government documents highlight the efficiency of home supplementation and fortification for prevention of anemia, based on scientific studies and adjusted to the objectives of the public policies set out in them. Some ideas in the workers' narratives are critical of the need for this type of intervention, others they favor them, indicating controversies in the process of local operationalization of federal policies. Tensions were observed in the concepts of promotion, prevention, and treatment through NutriSUS, dosage, and form of administration. Criticisms of supplementation highlight healthy eating practices as the best strategy. Medicalization rather than health promotion measures can strain the pedagogical perspective in schools and produce contradictory ideas on the best strategies for the promotion of healthy eating.