Peso corporal e escores de consumo alimentar em adolescentes no nordeste brasileiro

Augusto Cesar Barreto Neto, Maria Izabel Siqueira de Andrade, Vera Lúcia de Menezes Lima, Alcides da Silva Diniz

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of excess weight and analyze eating habits in relation to cardiovascular disease in adolescents from the city of Vitória de Santo Antão, state of Pernambuco, northeast Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out with male and female students (10-19 years old) enrolled at public and private schools in Vitória de Santo Antão. Sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle variables were collected. Food consumption was evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire and subsequently converted to monthly intake pattern scores, obtaining the intake distribution for a group of foods associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and for a group of protective foods. The significance level for the statistical tests was set at 5.0%. The sample consisted of 2,866 students. The female gender accounted for 54.2% of the sample, and median age was 14 years (interquartile range: 12 to 16 years). The food intake scores showed greater dispersion in the group of protective foods (51.1%). Higher median scores for consumption of risk foods were found among adolescents whose mothers had more than nine years of schooling (p<0.001). Excess weight was prevalent among the students analyzed. The consumption of risk foods was only associated with maternal schooling, which shows the need for nutritional interventions directed at families, regardless of socioeconomic status.