Food insecurity and overweight among government-backed economy restaurant workers

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira de Lima COSTA, Bruna
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Martins HORTA, Paula, Alves RAMOS, Sabrina
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/7557
• topic: Collective feeding; Food security; Occupational health; Overweight

ObjectiveThe objective was to analyze the occurrence and the associated factors with food insecurity and overweight among government-backed economy restaurant workers in one of the biggest cities in Brazil. MethodsA sample comprised of 180 individuals and represented 76.0% of all economy restaurant workers in the city of Belo Horizonte. Food insecurity was identifi ed through the Brazilian Food Security Scale, and excess weight was identifi ed by the body mass index. Data collection included sociodemographic and occupational information, and also health and quality of life perception. Logistic regression models were applied to identify the association. ResultsFood insecurity and overweight prevalence levels were 24.0% and 66.7%, respectively. The odds of identifying food insecurity were 2.34 times higher among workers that perceived their quality of life to be regular/poor/very poor and 62.0% and 74.0% lower among workers from the 2nd and 3rd tertile of per capita income, respectively. Individuals ≥40 years old (Odds Ratio=2.69, Confi dence Interval 95%:1.33-5.43) and food handlers (Odds Ratio=3.62, Confi dence Interval 95%:1.68-7.81) had higher odds of being classifi ed as overweight compared to reference categories. Workers with higher per capita income presented lower odds of being classifi ed as overweight (Odds Ratio=0.40, Confi dence Interval 95%:0.17-0,96). ConclusionIt was evidenced an occurrence of overweight among government-backed economy restaurant workers, which was associated with age, income and job position. Food insecurity prevalence was associated with income and quality of life perception. Although the sample work in a food and nutritional security promotion program, it is necessary to recommend actions aimed at the promotion of healthy eating habits.