Consumo alimentar e fatores associados na Coorte de Universidades Mineiras - projeto cume: uma abordagem das recomendações do Guia Alimentar para a População Brasileira

Abstract

Introduction: The Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population (DGBP) brings in its recommendations the golden rule: “Always prefer fresh or minimally processed foods and culinary preparations to ultra-processed foods (UPF)”. Among the foods that should be preferred, it is possible to highlight such as fruits and vegetables (FV), which are associated with a lower risk of mortality. Furthermore, it is emphasized that food is a context and that food consumption is associated with many factors. Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with food consumption, based on GAPB recommendations, of baseline participants of the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais - CUME Project. Methods: This is a crosssectional study with participants from the baseline of the CUME Project, from the years 2016 and 2018. Questions answered online, containing information on demographic, socioeconomic, anthropometric, lifestyle, health issues and a Quantitative food consumption frequency questionnaire. Consumption was evaluated through the degree of food processing, based on the DGBP golden rule, and through the consumption of FV. The associated factors were divided into three blocks: block 1, socioeconomic (marital status, education, professional status, individual and family income); block 2, behavioral (physical activity, alcohol consumption, tobacco use and consumption of legumes, natural juices, ultra-processed foods, soft drinks and industrialized juices and fast foods); block 3, individuals (gender, age, skin color, self-perception of health and presence of obesity, systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and depression). To verify the factors associated with food consumption, hierarchical multiple regression was used. One research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the participating universities. Results: The sample consisted of 4124, with a median age of 34 years and an interquartile range (IR) of 12 years. Most were female (68.1%), not legally married or not in a stable relationship (51.9%) and white (65.1%). The minimum education level was graduation, which is characteristic of this population, with 72.5% being postgraduates. The median total energy was 2223.97 kcal (IR: 1107.64 kcal), and the relative energy percentage was: 65.5% from fresh, minimally processed foods, culinary preparations and culinary ingredients; 10% processed foods and 24.5% UPF. Factors associated with food consumption, according to the degree of food processing, were marital status, income, physical activity, alcohol abuse, cigarette use, sex, skin color, age, obesity, diabetes and depression. Adequate consumption of FV occurred in 62.2% of the population, and was directly associated with physical activity, consumption of legumes, consumption of natural fruit juices, female gender, age and negatively with consumption of UPF. Conclusion: The importance of evaluating food consumption and its associated factors is demonstrated. In addition, it presents an important discussion regarding the specific issues of the studied population, which support more effective treatment. Finally, it presents an important detailing of the CUME Project's baseline, contributing with relevant evidence and supporting new studies of the longitudinal design of this population.