Consumo alimentar de adolescentes escolares sob a perspectiva da intersecção de raça/cor da pele e gênero: Dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar (PeNSE) de 2019

Abstract

Dietary consumption is associated with sociodemographic and economic factors. Among these, social class, race/skin color, gender, sexuality, and territory, together, may contribute to the establishment of inequalities. The panorama of adolescent food consumption indicates a prevalence of high consumption of ultra-processed foods and low consumption of in natura/minimally processed foods. This makes it necessary to study the consumption of in natura/minimally processed foods and ultra-processed foods by school-aged adolescents, using the analytical tool of intersectionality. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the association between the food consumption of schoolchildren and the intersections of race/skin color and gender. The data used in this study was obtained from the 2019 National School Health Survey. The exposure variable was constructed by creating 10 categories of analysis based on binary gender (male and female) and race/skin color (white, yellow, black, brown, and indigenous). The "white man" category was employed as a point of reference, given the privileged position this social identity holds from a gender and racial standpoint. Food consumption was assessed based on the regular consumption of three subgroups of in natura /minimally processed foods (beans, fruit and vegetables) and two subgroups of ultra-processed foods (sweets and soft drinks). The regression models were based on dichotomous outcomes: regular consumption (greater than or equal to five days) and non-regular consumption (less than or equal to four days). To estimate the odds of consumption among the categories created from the intersection of race/skin color and gender, crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for individual and contextual factors. In the adjusted models, black, yellow and brown men exhibited a greater likelihood of consuming beans in comparison to the other analytical categories, whereas white men demonstrated a higher propensity for consuming fruit and vegetables. In three (beans, vegetables and sweets) of the five food subgroups analyzed, black and indigenous women exhibited a statistically significant disadvantage compared to white men, who were used as the reference category. All categories had higher or similar chances of consuming sweets than white men, while the data for soft drinks showed no significant differences in relation to regular consumption. The study identified racial and gender inequalities in food consumption among the analytical categories, especially black and indigenous women, who were less likely to consume in natura /minimally processed foods, and therefore less likely to comply with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population, when compared to white men, who were privileged from a gender and racial perspective.