TITLE:
Relationship between Overweight and Dietary Patterns in Brazilian Preschoolers
AUTHORS:
Luciana Neri Nobre, Angelina do Carmo Lessa, Joel Alves Lamounier, Sylvia do Carmo Castro Franceschini
KEYWORDS:
Dietary Patterns, Nutritional Assessment, Overweight, Childhood, Dietary Intake
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.8 No.6,
June
16,
2017
ABSTRACT: Background/Objectives: The prevalence of overweight in children is a growing health problem. The
aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between overweight and
dietary patterns in preschoolers. Methods: In total, 232 preschoolers (age
5) residing in the city of Diamantina, Brazil, were evaluated. Dietary intake
from a food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric parameters and
socioeconomic/behavioral information from a questionnaire were evaluated using
a cross-sectional design. Dietary patterns were identified using principal
component analysis, and the relationship between overweight and dietary patterns was examined by logistic
regression analysis. Results: “Mixed diet”, “snack” and “unhealthy” dietary patterns were identified.
Children daughters of obese mothers, and those who had higher average weight
gain in the first four months of life had a significantly higher chance of
being overweight (respective values: OR = 3.81; p = 0.002; and OR = 2.97; p = 0.009). Higher levels of maternal education were associated with higher “mixed
diet” scores (p p p p = 0.002) were associated
with higher “snack” scores. Higher per capita income was also associated with
lower “unhealthy” scores (p Conclusions: In the present study, overweight was not associated with dietary
pattern. However, unhealthy eating habits are known to be risk factors for
overweight, and considering that eating habits are formed in childhood, it is
very important that healthy eating be
encouraged in the family environment and in other spaces like childcare
and school.