Open AccessAssociation between Food Intake and Overweight in Children Assisted by Primary Care
Author(s) -
Erivelton Sousa Lima,
Amanda de Castro Amorim Serpa Brandão,
Antônio Luiz Gomes,
Luana Kelle Batista Moura,
Gerardo Vasconcelos Mesquita,
Adélia Dalva da Silva Oliveira,
Zulmira Hartz,
Carmen Viana Ramos
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the open nursing journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.386
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1874-4346
DOI - 10.2174/1874434602115010305
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , breastfeeding , environmental health , anthropometry , food group , cross sectional study , pediatrics , obesity , pathology
Background: The child feed in the first two years of life is of fundamental importance for a healthy growth and development.Aims: To verify the association between food consumption indicators and overweight in children under the age of two, followed up by primary care health professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 232 children assisted by primary care. A structured questionnaire was used with questions on sociodemographic data of mothers or guardians and food intake and anthropometric data of children. The analysis of the association between excess weight and food intake indicators was performed using the Pearson’s chi-square test (χ 2 ) and Fisher’s exact test (f ˂ 5). Results: Regarding food intake in children under 6 months of age, 35.1% of the children were exclusively breastfed. Among children at the age of 6 to 23 months: 66.3% were on continued breastfeeding; 16.7% consumed adequate foods at the age of 6 to 8 months; 90.4% consumed foods that belonged to the six food groups; 76.3% consumed food at the minimum frequency and with adequate consistency; 88.9% consumed iron-rich and vitamin A-rich foods, and 59.3% consumed ultra-processed foods. Regarding nutritional status, 24.5% of the children were overweight. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant association between overweight and food consumption indicators among the surveyed children. However, exclusive breastfeeding was below the recommended level, a low percentage of the introduction of complementary foods at the appropriate age and high consumption of ultra-processed foods reveal the need to improve the assistance provided by primary care to this group.