Temporal variation in food consumption of Brazilian adolescents (2009-2015)

Background Worldwide population has been increasingly exposed to ultra-processed foods, which are associated with obesity. Adolescence is a transition period of life and WHO recommends the surveillance of risk factors to the adolescents’ health, such as diet, because experiences in this phase can re...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hélida Ventura Barbosa Gonçalves, Daniela Silva Canella, Daniel Henrique Bandoni, Matias Noll
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498085/?tool=EBI
Description
Summary:Background Worldwide population has been increasingly exposed to ultra-processed foods, which are associated with obesity. Adolescence is a transition period of life and WHO recommends the surveillance of risk factors to the adolescents’ health, such as diet, because experiences in this phase can result in health risks. Objective To assess the trends in food consumption of adolescents from Brazilian capitals according to sociodemographic variables, based on data from the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE). Methods Data from in 2009, 2012 and 2015 of a total of 173,310 9th graders enrolled in public and private schools in Brazilian capitals and in the Federal District were assessed. Food consumption was assessed from regular consumption (five or more times a week) of healthy eating markers (beans; vegetables; fruit) and unhealthy eating markers (sweets; soft drinks; fried salty snacks). For sociodemographic variables, we considered macro regions; age; race/ skin color; gender; school administrative status. We assessed these markers trends for the population and, additionally, the analyses were stratified by gender, race/ skin color, and school administrative status. Statistical significance of the temporal trends was assessed by linear regression model. Results Over six years, three types of change in Brazilian adolescents’ diet were observed: decreasing regular consumption of beans, sweets and soft drinks, increasing regular consumption of vegetables, and stable consumption of fruit and fried salty snacks. Conclusion Brazilian adolescents’ diet composition has changed in a short period, and therefore it is necessary to monitor it to propose actions aimed at this public.
ISSN:1932-6203