Abstract
Objective: Identify social aspects that may influence the formation of children's eating habits. Methods: Researches were carried out incorporating the bibliographic databases: Scientific Electronic Library Scielo, Bireme virtual health library, MEDLINE / Pubmed. As inclusion criteria were defined original scientific articles published in full in the last 5 years, in Portuguese and English. The search had as keywords the words: childhood obesity, nutritional transition, food habits, family, nutrition, public policies, food and nutritional education. Results: The family, the school and the media play an important role in the formation of children's eating habits, which reflect on their nutritional status. Final considerations: It is evident the relation of the food consumption of the parents and / or relatives with the nutritional state of the children, and its importance in the formation of the alimentary habits of the child.