Consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados por gestantes: análise da qualidade da dieta com base na classificação nova de alimentos

Abstract

Pregnancy is a period marked by major physiological, metabolic and nutritional changes that contribute to the increased vulnerability of women to present nutritional inadequacies related to dietary intake. At this stage, proper nutrition is critical to the prevention of negative gestational outcomes. Changes in the dietary and nutritional profile of the population have been a major threat to women during the gestational period and, in this perspective, studies of food consumption have used the percentage of energy supplied by ultra-processed foods to assess the relationship between eating habits and health. from different populations. Thus, the present dissertation is structured in two parts, the first being a literature review chapter that underlies the study of pregnant women's food consumption and the use of the NOVA classification of foods; and the second, an original article that aimed to analyze the nutritional profile of the diet of pregnant women from primary health care in the city of Maceió/AL, through a cross-sectional study conducted with pregnant women followed during prenatal care, where food consumption was evaluated by means of two 24-hour food recalls and the food items consumed were classified into four groups according to the NOVA food classification, and the pregnant women were stratified into energy consumption quintiles derived from ultra-processed foods. The average daily energy intake was 1,966.9 Kcal and about ¼ of the total caloric intake came from ultra-processed foods. Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was directly associated with high consumption of free sugars and total saturated and trans fats, and low consumption of protein, dietary fiber and most of the vitamins and minerals evaluated. Ultra-processed foods had unfavorable and harmful health characteristics when compared to fresh or minimally processed foods. The results of this study provide evidence that the proportion of ultraprocessed consumption determines the overall nutritional quality of the diet of pregnant women attended by the basic health network, reinforcing the need to adopt better nutritional education strategies for this public.