Dietary pattern of sugar canne cutters in a city of the northwest of Sao Paulo

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Sugar cane used for alcohol production is a very important economic activity in rural areas of Sao Paulo state. There is still a population of workers that are essential for cutting the plants. Therefore, the investigation of their eating habits, and the quantification of nutrient intake might help the government to develop public health and nutrition intervention programs. Methods: This was a descriptive, observational, and transversal study. The instrument used on the study was the 24-hour dietary recall applied to 71 sugar cane cutters, which was fulfilled by the researchers at the farm. Everything ingested by the workers was registered and split into portions, in every meal. Subsequently, the food ingested was analyzed as to quantities and compared to the traditional Brazilian feeding pyramid. Results: Eleven percent of the workers had 6 daily meals, prevailing 4 to 5 meals a day. Regarding the food groups, the number of portions (mean ± SD) were: bread, rice, pasta and potato, 8±2; fruits 1±1,2; vegetables 1,33±; beans 3,6±1,6; meat and eggs 4,3±1,8; milk cheese and yogurt 0,92±0,9; sugar and sweets 0,64±1,16; oil and fat 0,79±0,51 Conclusions: Based on the present data, it was possible to conclude that rural workers that work on sugar cane crops have an inadequate dietary patter with reduced food variety, consisting basically of bread, rice, beans and cattle meat.