Processed and ultra-processed foods are associated with high prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and low prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy in adolescents from public schools in an urban area of northeastern Brazil.

Raphaela Cecília Thé Maia De Arruda Falcão Falcão,Célia Márcia Medeiros De Morais,Lucia Fátima Campos Pedrosa,Karine Cavalcanti Maurício Sena-Evangelista,Clélia De Oliveira Lyra,Severina Carla Vieira Cunha Lima,Liana Galvão Bacurau Pinheiro,Samson Gebremedhin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224984

Raphaela Cecília Thé Maia De Arruda Falcão Falcão, Célia Márcia Medeiros De Morais + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224984

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Dec 4, 2019
Citations: 18	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

Changes in eating behavior of adolescents are associated with high consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods. This study evaluated the association between these foods and the prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 444 adolescents from public schools in the city of Natal, northeastern Brazil. The adolescents' habitual food consumption was evaluated using two 24-hour dietary recalls. Foods were categorized according to the degree of processing (processed and ultra-processed) and distributed into energy quartiles, using the NOVA classification system. Inadequacies in micronutrient intake were assessed using the estimated average requirement (EAR) as the cutoff point. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between energy percentage from processed and ultra-processed foods and prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake. The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) consumption of total energy from processed foods ranged from 5.8% (1.7%) in Q1 to 20.6% (2.9%) in Q4, while the mean consumption of total energy from ultra-processed foods ranged from 21.4% (4.9%) in Q1 to 61.5% (11.7%) in Q4. The rates of inadequate intake of vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, calcium, and selenium were above 80% for both sexes across all age groups. Energy consumption from processed foods was associated with higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake (p < 0.01) and lower prevalence of inadequate vitamin B1 intake (p = 0.04). Energy consumption from ultra-processed foods was associated with lower prevalence of inadequate zinc and vitamin B1 intake (p < 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). An increase in the proportion of energy obtained from processed and ultra-processed foods may reflect higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and lower prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy.

Highlights

Adolescence is a period of high nutrient and energy demand and is a nutritionally critical period of life when lifestyle and dietary habits are changing [1]
The high prevalence of inadequate vitamin D intake observed in our study indicates an alarming situation, since one of the main actions of vitamin D is the regulation of calcium and phosphorus metabolism, controlling the processes of intestinal absorption and renal reabsorption of these ions [45]
An increase in the proportion of energy obtained from processed and ultra-processed foods by adolescents from public schools, was associated with an increase in the prevalence of inadequate selenium intake, which could lead to short-term and long-term negative health consequences

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence is a period of high nutrient and energy demand and is a nutritionally critical period of life when lifestyle and dietary habits are changing [1]. This makes adolescents vulnerable to the consumption of heavily-processed, high-fat and high-sugar products [2, 3]. NOVA is a system of grouping foods according to the nature, extent and purpose of the industrial processing used in their production According to this system, all foods and beverages can be categorized into four groups: (i) unprocessed or minimally processed foods, (ii) processed culinary ingredients, (iii) processed foods, and (iv) ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods differ from less processed foods in that they fail to maintain their basic identity, undergoing various processing stages and techniques and including substances used exclusively in industry, such as cakes, pies, cookies, ready-to-eat and semi-ready-to-eat meals, bakery products, sugar-sweetened beverages, and snacks [4]

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