Anthropometric Evaluation and Assessment of Food Intake of Parents of Pediatric Patients with Chronic Rheumatic Diseases

Abstract

Introduction: Parents’ eating behavior, lifestyle, and food choices can interfere with their children’s eating habits, bringing new perspectives for the development of beneficial interventions in the context of chronic rheumatic diseases. Objectives: The objective is to evaluate BMI, dietary intake, physical activity, and biomarkers of lipid metabolism in parents of children and adolescents with chronic rheumatic diseases and to verify the association with those of their children. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 91 parents, and their respective children diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (n = 30, 33.0%), juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 41, 45.0%), and juvenile dermatomyositis (n = 20, 22.0%). Anthropometric and dietary data, physical activity, lipid profile, and apolipoproteins A-I and B were evaluated. Results: In total, 67% of parents and 27.5% of children were overweight; 80% of overweight children/adolescents also had parents with the same nutritional diagnosis. We found a moderate association of total fat intake (Cramer’s V test = 0.254; p = 0.037), and a weak association of saturated fat intake (Cramer’s V test = 0.219; p = 0.050) and cholesterol intake (Cramer’s V test = 0.234; p = 0.025) between parents and their children. A high prevalence of dyslipidemia was observed for parents (82.4%) and children (83.5%), however, with no association between both. A weak association was found between parents and children (Cramer’s V test = 0.238; p = 0.024) for triglycerides, and no association was found between parents and children concerning physical activity. Conclusion: The high frequency of overweight and dyslipidemia observed in parents, combined with the association between the fat intake by parents and their children with chronic rheumatic diseases, points to the importance of intervention strategies with the engagement and participation of families.