Challenges and reflections on the implementation of a food and nutrition education program (FNE) for individuals with excess weight

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, Mariana de Almeida
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Pereira, Amanda Alves, Leão, Juliana Medeiros, Lisboa, Leticia catarina Vitoretti, Ribeiro Elias, Maria Amelia, Ghetti, Fabiana de Faria, Aguiar, Aline Silva de, Potente Dutra Luquetti, Sheila Cristina
• 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/3265
• topic: Food and Nutrition Education; Obesity; Weight Loss; Educación Alimentaria y Nutricional; Obesidad; Pérdida de Peso.; Educação Alimentar e Nutricional; Obesidade; Perda de Peso

Objective: To report the experience of Food and Nutrition Education (FNE) activities developed with overweight and obesity patients. Data overview: Food and nutrition education sessions were developed with class I and II overweight and obesity patients in the outpatient center of the Hospital Universitário/Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora – HU/ UFJF (University Hospital of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora who participated in the extension project “Saúde na Balança” (Weighing Health). Sessions were carried out in groups and took place weekly in the 1st month, fortnightly in the 2nd and 3rd months, and monthly up to the 6th month, in the period from September 2012 to September 2013. During one year of activities, four groups were developed with a total of 46 volunteers who agreed to participate in the sessions. Nutrition issues that supported individual care were discussed in these sessions. The team identified that place, time, frequency of sessions, availability of time and lack of financial resources were factors affecting patient’s adherence to treatment; thus, some of them were modified and a better adherence could already be verified in the last group. However, 17 dropouts were still recorded. According to patients’ self-reports, it was possible to see positives changes in eating habits and in the way to deal with obesity and associated comorbidities. Conclusion: In the course of activities, a bond between the team and the participants was established, allowing the identification of demands and effective ways of working with groups, proving that FNE helps the individual approach as it allows experiences and information exchange, expanding the power of choices for healthy life habits.