Soup kitchen users' social representations of healthy eating associated with their household food security status

• Autor(a) principal: Isabel Cristina Bento
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Fernanda Martins Sobrinho, Mery Natali Silva Abreu, Simone Cardoso Lisboa Pereira, Maria Flávia Gazinelli
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652016000200007; http://hdl.handle.net/1843/58119; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5205-7821; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6691-3537; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9261-2597
• topic: Collective feeding; Food and nutrition security; Food habits; Nutrition programs and policies; Hábitos alimentares; Nutrição

Objective To verify whether what users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, think about a healthy diet and the challenges they face to eat healthy are associated with their household food security status. Methods This cross-sectional study included 1,656 users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte. Socioeconomic and household food security data, and healthy-eating discourses were collected by a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were submitted to descriptive analyses for constructing frequency distribution tables, and to univariate analysis. Discourse analysis was based on the social representation theory. Results To cut, reduce, avoid, not eat, eat less, and decrease carbohydrates, salt, meats, various beverages, and other foods are the most frequent changes (71.4%) that food-secure users have made or intend tomake. Food-insecure users intended to eat more fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and other foods (34.4%). The main obstacles food-secure and food-insecure users face to adopt a healthier diet are lack of time (82.9%) and low income (53.5%), respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion What users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte think about food and the obstacles they face to adopt a healthier diet are related to their household food security status. The results provide valuable data for effective proposals of food and nutrition education, which should act on the producers of subjectivity in this group and consider this group’s food and nutrition security status