Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of processed foods impact on child health

• Autor(a) principal: Fechine, Álvaro Diógenes Leite
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Machado, Márcia Maria Tavares, Lindsay, Ana Cristina, Leite Fechine, Vicente Alexandro, Arruda, Carlos André Moura
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.unifor.br/RBPS/article/view/3099
• topic: Nutritional Transition; Child Health; Child Day Care Centers; Processed Foods.; Transição Nutricional; Saúde Infantil; Creches; Alimentos Industrializados.; transição nutricional; obesidade; sobrepeso; creches; alimentos industrializados.

Objective: To identify parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of processed foods impact on child health. Methods: Qualitative study, conducted with 19 parents of children and 11 teachers of public child day care centers in a municipality of Ceará State, in the period from January to September 2010. Four focus groups were conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed verbatim. After content analysis, three thematic categories emerged. Results: Teachers report that parents are influenced by advertisements diffused on the media and by the convenience of preparation and consumption of processed foods. Parents realize that processed foods are not healthy, but their consumption is common in the households. Despite the provision of free school meals, there are cases of processed foods commercialisation in the vicinity of child day care centers. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that there are several factors that may be influencing the intake of processed foods by children, which are not healthy for their health. It evidenced the need for interventions that focus on school and family, to prevent the indiscriminate consumption of processed foods.