Avaliação do consumo alimentar da população paraibana nos anos de 2008 e 2018, considerando os fatores socioeconômicos e demográficos

Abstract

The assessment of food consumption of populations with the aim of describing changes over time generates information for disease prevention and for planning and guiding public policies. The NOVA classification, which divides foods into four categories based on the extent, purpose and effect of processing, has been used extensively to monitor the food consumption of different populations. In Brazil, analyses have normally been carried out at a national level, with emphasis only on regional differences. However, the implications of consuming unhealthy diets with excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods appear first in population groups in situations of social vulnerability, especially in women, black people and those with low incomes, which demonstrates inequalities and inequities and raises the hypothesis that the food consumption of the population of less developed States may have a different profile from the general results of the country. Thus, the main objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the food consumption of the population of the State of Paraíba (Brazil), whose Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH -Human Development Index) is the eighth lowest in the country, between 2008 and 2018, considering socioeconomic inequalities, as well as to describe its trends in different social strata, considering differences in income, race and sex; to analyze the evolution of food consumption according to the NOVA classification in the period described and, finally, to identify the association between food consumption according to the NOVA classification and socioeconomic and demographic factors. This is a repeated panel study, based on secondary data from the Inquérito Nacional de Alimentação (INA – National Food Survey), a module included in the last two editions of the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF – Household Budget Survey) 2008-2009 and 2017-2018. A sample of the population residing only in the State of Paraíba was selected, corresponding to 951 individuals in the first period and 1,456 people in the second period, aged ≥ 10 years. All foods were categorized according to the NOVA classification, and the groups were compared in the two editions of the study, according to the sociodemographic variables using the t-test for independent groups. To describe the sociodemographic variables that best explain the contribution of each NOVA group to the diet, univariate beta regression was performed to select the variables to be included in the multiple beta regression model. In 2008-2009, the four food subgroups that contributed the most to the total daily calories were: rice, beef, French bread, and beans. In the second survey, in 2017-2018, the subgroups with the greatest contribution were rice, French bread, sugars, and poultry. When comparing the contribution of each food group between the two surveys, statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in all groups of the NOVA classification. Changes in the food consumption of the population of Paraíba were observed between the years 2008-2009 and 2017-2018, characterized by a reduction in the consumption of natural and minimally processed foods, and an increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods, and these changes were associated with sociodemographic characteristics.