Primary Health Care Intervention Reduces Added Sugars Consumption During Childhood.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of a training program for health workers regarding infant feeding practices to reduce sugar consumption in children. DESIGN: A cluster randomized trial was conducted at 20 health centers in southern Brazil randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 9) or control (n = 11) group. PARTICIPANTS: The 715 pregnant women enrolled were assessed when their children were aged 6 months, 3 years, and 6 years. INTERVENTION: A training session for primary care workers based on the Brazilian National Guidelines for Children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mothers were asked when sugar was first offered to children. Added sugars intake was obtained from dietary recalls. ANALYSIS: The effectiveness of the intervention was modeled using generalized estimation equations and Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS: Children attending intervention health centers had a 27% reduced risk of sugar introduction before 4 months of age (relative risk, 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.87) as well as lower added sugars consumption (difference, -6.36 g/d; 95% CI, -11.49 to -1.23) and total daily energy intake (difference, -116.90 kcal/d; 95% CI, -222.41 to -11.40) at 3 years of age. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Health care worker training in infant feeding guidelines may be an effective intervention to delay the introduction of added sugars and lower the subsequent intake of added sugars in infants and toddlers.

Nutritional knowledge and body mass index: A cross-sectional study / Conhecimento nutricional e índice de massa corporal: um estudo transversal

Summary Objective: To verify the knowledge about food and nutrition and its association with the nutritional status of obese patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and to identify the relationship between information sources and level of knowledge. Method: Cross-sectional study that included 263 outpatients of a cardiology referral hospital in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The participants filled out a questionnaire on socioeconomic data and knowledge about food and nutrition and had their nutritional status evaluated by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). Results: BMI showed a significant inverse association with the percentage of correct answers (p=0.002), as well as WC (p=0.000) and WHR (p<0.001). This was also true for education (p<0.001) and female gender (p=0.005) compared to males. More than 60% of patients reported using television and 23% reported using newspaper as sources of nutritional information. Conclusion: Our study revealed a significant association between BMI and the level of knowledge about foods, showing that there is need for more information on obesity-related NCDs for greater understanding by patients.

Resumo Objetivo: Verificar os conhecimentos sobre alimentação e nutrição e sua associação com o estado nutricional de pacientes obesos portadores de doenças crônicas, e identificar a relação das fontes de informação com o nível de conhecimentos. Método: Estudo transversal realizado com 263 pacientes ambulatoriais de um hospital de referência em cardiologia em Porto Alegre, RS. Os indivíduos preencheram um questionário sobre dados socioeconômicos e conhecimentos sobre alimentação e nutrição, tendo seu estado nutricional avaliado por meio de índice de massa corporal (IMC), circunferência da cintura (CC) e relação cintura quadril (RCQ). Resultados: O IMC apresentou associação inversa e significativa com o percentual de acertos (p=0,002), assim como a CC (p<0,001) e a RCQ (p<0,001). E também a escolaridade (p<0,001) e o sexo feminino (p=0,005) em relação ao masculino. Mais de 60% dos pacientes relataram utilizar televisão e 23% jornal como fontes de informação sobre alimentação. Conclusão: No presente estudo, houve associação significativa entre IMC e nível de conhecimento sobre alimentação, demonstrando que há necessidade de maior divulgação sobre as doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNT) para que haja maior entendimento por parte dos pacientes.

Nutritional knowledge and body mass index: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To verify the knowledge about food and nutrition and its association with the nutritional status of obese patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and to identify the relationship between information sources and level of knowledge. METHOD: Cross-sectional study that included 263 outpatients of a cardiology referral hospital in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The participants filled out a questionnaire on socioeconomic data and knowledge about food and nutrition and had their nutritional status evaluated by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). RESULTS: BMI showed a significant inverse association with the percentage of correct answers (p=0.002), as well as WC (p=0.000) and WHR (p<0.001). This was also true for education (p<0.001) and female gender (p=0.005) compared to males. More than 60% of patients reported using television and 23% reported using newspaper as sources of nutritional information. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed a significant association between BMI and the level of knowledge about foods, showing that there is need for more information on obesity-related NCDs for greater understanding by patients.