Perfil nutricional e sociodemográfico de indivíduos brasileiros que seguem dietas especiais: II Inquérito Nacional de Alimentação: 2017 - 2018

Abstract

The adoption of a healthy diet helps in the control and mortality from Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). A healthier diet can be achieved by the practice of special diets, which can be adopted due to the diagnosis of some diseases. Knowing the percentage of those on special diets can be useful for monitoring the care and coping with NCDs in Brazil. Thus, the present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of special diet use in the Brazilian population according to types of diet, sociodemographic variables and nutritional status. This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study using data from the National Food Survey (INA) 2017/2018 (n=46,164 individuals aged 10 years and over). Participants were asked if they were on a special diet, and for what purpose. Prevalence of diet practices were obtained according to sociodemographic characteristics, nutritional status, use of salt, sugar and added sweeteners, and nutritional supplements. To calculate the estimates, Software R version 4.1.0 was used, considering the complexity of the sample and the expansion factors. Among the population studied (n=46,164 individuals), 14.3% stated that they were on some type of diet. When compared by sex, the prevalence was higher among women (17.8%) than among men (9.6%), with the diet for high blood pressure being more prevalent in men (3.7%) and the diet for weight loss more prevalent in women (7.4%). Diet use was higher among the elderly (men: 22.4%; women: 31.2%) and obese (men: 13.2%; women: 26.0%), for all types of diets, and lower among individuals with lower income (men: 4.3% vs. 20.4% higher income; women: 10% vs. 26.1% higher income) and less educated (men: 6.7% vs. 23.6% with higher education; women: 11.9% vs. 23.9% with higher education). Individuals who reported dieting, compared with those who did not, had a lower prevalence of salt consumption (men: 12.0% vs. 15.5%; women: 9.6% vs. 12.6%) and sugar addiction (men: 53.1% vs. 85.4%; women: 51.1% vs. 81.9%) and a higher prevalence of consumption of nutritional supplements (men: 32.2% vs. 13.7% ; women: 38.6% vs. 19.2%). The use of diets was higher among women, elderly and obese, and lower among individuals with lower income and lower education for all types of diet. Although CNCDs are more frequent among individuals with lower income and lower education, the use of special diets was less frequent in this group.