Trends in food consumption of schoolchildren from 2nd to 5th grade: a panel data analysis

• Autor(a) principal: Jeremias PEREIRA, Luciana
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: de Fragas HINNIG, Patrícia, Faria DI PIETRO, Patrícia, Altenburg de ASSIS, Maria Alice, Kunradi VIEIRA, Francilene Gracieli
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/7185
• topic: Child; Food consumption; Nutritional surveillance

Objective To identify trends in food consumption among schoolchildren (2nd-5th grades) from public schools in the city of Florianópolis, Brazil, in a period of three years. MethodsThree cross-sectional surveys were carried out in 2013 (n=1,942), 2014 (n=1,989) and 2015 (n=2,418). Dietary intake data were obtained using the Web-Based Food Intake and Physical Activity of Schoolchildren questionnaire. Food items were aggregated to eight food groups. Kruskal-Wallis heterogeneity and trend tests were used to analyze the differences and trends among the mean intake frequency of food groups.  ResultsThere were trends to decrease the mean intake frequency of sweets in the total sample (2013: 0.72±0.91; 2014: 0.68±0.87; 2015: 0.67±0.89, p=0.03) which was determined by children between 7-9 years old (2013:0.69±0.88; 2014: 0.64±0.85; 2015: 0.62±0.87, p=0.02), and boys (2013: 0.75±0.90; 2014: 0.70±0.86; 2015:0.68±0.88, p=0.03). Younger children also tended to increase the mean intake frequency of fruits and vegetables(2013: 1.03±1.35; 2014: 1.16±1.45; 2015: 1.17±1.41, p=0.03) and those aged ten-12 years decreased theirintake of dairy products (2013: 1.32±1.25; 2014: 1.23±1.18; 2015: 1.20±1.20, p=0.05). ConclusionThe results suggest positive trends for younger children, with an increased consumption of fruits and vegetablesin both sexes and decreased consumption of sweets for boys. Older children reduced their consumption of dairyproducts over the three-year period of this study.