Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods among children aged 13-35 months and its associated factors. We studied 1,185 children within the BRISA cohort in São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil. The food consumption was investigated using a 24-hour recall, and the percentages of daily caloric intake and nutrients were estimated by food groups according to "NOVA" classification. We chose to categorize children belonging to the upper tertile of the distribution as having a high consumption of processed and ultra-processed food products. The Poisson regression model with robust variance estimation using a hierarchical modeling approach was used to calculate the prevalence ratios (PRs) of variables associated with high consumption of processed and ultra-processed food products. The mean energy intake was 1,226Kcal/day. After adjustments, there was a higher proportion of high consumption of processed and ultra-processed food products among children whose mothers had < 12 years of education and among children who were older than 16 months. Mothers with low schooling and children older than 16 months should be the targets of interventions aimed at reducing consumption of these food products and preventing adverse health outcomes in later life.
Highlights
In recent decades, there has been a reversal of population dietary patterns, with reductions in the consumption of traditional foods and increases in foods that are ready for consumption [1,2]
Considering the increased contribution of foods ready for consumption to individual’s diets, the fact that habits started in childhood can last for a lifetime and are related to diseases in adulthood, and the gaps remaining in the knowledge of the consumption of processed/ultra-processed foods products in early ages, this study aimed to evaluate the consumption of processed and ultra-processed food products and investigate the factors associated with their consumption among children aged [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35] months in the BRISA birth cohort, São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil
This was a cross-sectional study integrated within the prospective cohort study entitled Etiology of Preterm Birth and Consequences of Perinatal Outcomes for Child Health: Birth Cohorts in Two Brazilian Cities – BRISA, which was developed by the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA) in partnership with the Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (FMRP/USP)
Summary
There has been a reversal of population dietary patterns, with reductions in the consumption of traditional foods and increases in foods that are ready for consumption [1,2]. This change has been associated to the occurrence of high prevalence of obesity worldwide 3. Unprocessed foods are obtained directly from nature, from edible parts of plants and animals 5. Processed culinary ingredients are substances obtained directly from the nature by processes such as pressing, refining, grinding and spray drying 5
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
