Democratic goods and statements on food and nutrition in municipal health council minutes

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the generation of the democratic goods of transparency and inclusion in the meeting minutes of a health council, as well as to identify and understand statements regarding food and nutrition recorded during discussions. Methods: a documentary analysis of the meeting minutes from the Piraquara/PR, Brazil, Municipal Health Council for the years 2023 and 2024. Content analysis was performed. The democratic goods considered were transparency and inclusion. Results: twenty-two minutes from ordinary meetings and four from extraordinary meetings were analyzed. Internal transparency proved adequate, with documents being read and made available to council members; however, external transparency showed weaknesses, such as two incomplete records and the initial unavailability of minutes on the council's online portal. Regarding inclusion, a lack of parity among segments was observed at the meetings; 50% of statements on food and nutrition were made by service users, 33.3% by observers, and 16.6% by government representatives, with no recorded statements from health workers or service providers. Conclusion: the generation of transparency was evident, whereas inclusion showed weaknesses. Statements regarding food and nutrition were sporadic, indicating that the topic does not yet occupy a structured place on the health council's agendas.