The aim of this article is to assess the odds ratio of hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19 in people with obesity using data from residents of Espírito Santo, Brazil. An observational, quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out from the database available on the official channel of the State Health Secretariat of Espírito Santo. Crude odds ratio estimates (ORs) referring to the association between variables were calculated, as well as adjusted odds ratios (adjusted odds ratios—OR adj.) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CI 95%). The results indicate that men, non-white, no education or with lower education level and age over 40 years old were more likely to be hospitalized and died of COVID-19. People with obesity are at risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 54% and 113% higher than people who do not have obesity. People with obesity had a higher chance of hospitalization when they were over 40 years old, had breathing difficulty, and the comorbidities diabetes (2.18 higher) and kidney disease (4.10 higher). The odds ratio of death for people with obesity over 60 years old was 12.51 higher, and those who were hospitalized was 17.9 higher compared to those who were not hospitalized.

Este estudo buscou descrever a situação de segurança alimentar e nutricional vivenciada por beneficiários do Programa Bolsa Família do Município de Montes Claros (Minas Gerais) participantes de uma oficina de intervenção nutricional. Foram entrevistados 72 beneficiários e obtidas informações sobre idade, renda, escolaridade situação de insegurança alimentar e nutricional, consumo alimentar, avaliação do serviço de saúde, conhecimentos em nutrição e estado nutricional. Foi adotada a Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar e Nutricional – com 15 questões que refletem a insegurança alimentar em diferentes níveis. Todas as famílias apresentaram algum grau de Insegurança Alimentar, sendo 48,6%, leve, 34,7%, média e 16,7%, grave. A maioria dos beneficiários (53,5%) classificados com insegurança média apresentou estado nutricional inadequado. Foi verificado o consumo inadequado dos grupos das verduras e legumes (52,6%), leguminosas (53,8%) e cereais (51,6) e sua relação com a insegurança alimentar. Estes resultados reforçam a necessidade de implementação de Políticas Públicas que favoreçam a adoção de hábitos alimentares saudáveis.

INTRODUCTIONFalls are a public health problem at the global level due to the associated repercussions, such as a large number of years of disability, the need for long-term care, and high mortality rates. 1 In the Brazilian population there is a prevalence of 27% for falls among older adults, with advanced age among the risk factors with strong scientific evidence for falls. 2,3 Falls have also been associated with the presence of morbidities, 4,5 depressive symptoms, 3,6 changes in balance and reduction in muscle strength, 7-9 use of medicines, 10,11 disabilities in basic activities (BADL) and instrumental activities (IADL) of daily living, 12,13 lower levels of physical activity, 14 prolonged sedentary behavior, 15 female sex 2,3 and obesity. [16][17][18] Among these factors, obesity, which is also currently a public health problem, requires further investigation. However, the effects of body fat distribution on the occurrence of falls are not yet well established. 18 The scientific literature shows that excess fat in the central region contributes to the anterior displacement of the body's center of mass, making it difficult to stabilize in an upright posture, shifting the line of gravity that approaches the body's base of support. 19 Based on studies in older adults, it appears that falls are associated with sociodemographic, health, and behavioral characteristics. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] However, which of these factors act directly or indirectly to mediate the occurrence of falls in older adults with and without abdominal obesity remains unclear.Obesity is a common condition in the elderly population and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality, risk of institutionalization, and poorer quality of life. 20 Additionally, advanced age is one of the main factors associated with falls. 1 Thus, it is necessary to expand on the understanding of the association between obesity and falls in this population, aiming to identify individuals at greater risk and propose preventive measures. 18

Different studies have shown that both obesity and gender can act as direct risk factors or through mediation, favoring worse outcomes in COVID-19. However, it is not clear how these factors relate and act differently between men and women. The aim of this study is to assess mortality from COVID-19 and to verify the direct and indirect effects of clinical variables among people with obesity, according to gender and BMI categories, in Brazil. An observational, cross-sectional study was carried out using national database. Path analysis showed that while men showed a direct association between higher values ​​of BMI and death, women showed an indirect association, mediated by the need for admission to the ICU. This may be due to greater severity infection among men without adequate time for care in the ICU.

Objetivou-se desenvolver e verificar a validade de conteúdo e a confiabilidade de um instrumento que propõe avaliar os níveis de letramento alimentar de adolescentes. Realizou-se o teste e o reteste com 60 participantes, para a estimativa da confiabilidade. O instrumento desenvolvido foi denominado de Letramento Alimentar de Adolescentes (LAA). A análise da validade de conteúdo foi conduzida por uma equipe de especialistas. Em seguida foi realizada a verificação da confiabilidade do instrumento (alfa de Cronbach/consistência interna) e teste-reteste (Kappa simples). Após avaliação do comitê de especialistas, o instrumento foi considerado válido quanto ao seu conteúdo. Na sequência recomendou-se a aplicação do instrumento para avaliar as outras qualidades propostas. Os resultados alcançados foram discutidos novamente com o comitê de especialistas, entrevistadores e autores do instrumento “LAA”, que julgaram o instrumento apto para ser utilizado nas demais etapas das avaliações, sem necessidade de mudanças, na versão final apresentada. O instrumento foi aplicado em 60 adolescentes, destes 34 (56,7%) eram do sexo masculino, com média de idade de 14,6 anos e com prevalência da raça/cor da pele parda (n= 45 / 75%). No que diz respeito à estimativa da confiabilidade, a consistência interna ou alfa de Cronbach estimado foi de 0,82. Quanto à reprodutibilidade, verificou-se que dentre as 54 perguntas do instrumento, apenas duas obtiveram Kappa inferior a 0,60. Sendo assim, o instrumento LAA apresentou boa aplicação e fácil compreensão, bons padrões de confiabilidade e validade de conteúdo.

Objective: To evaluate adolescents’ food literacy. Methods: The estimated samples were 496 and 497 schoolchildren aged 12 and 15 years old, according to the following parameters: universes 4458 and 4524 respectively; prevalence 50%; confidence level 95% (Z=1.96); sampling error 5%; non response rate 10%, and deff=1.4. By simple random drawing, public schools where there were adolescents of the recommended index ages were included. To assess food literacy, questions that addressed access to information, understanding, evaluation, and application of the information about food were considered. The data were collected by trained academics, who used software developed for this purpose. The descriptive analyses were made using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences - SPSS, version 25.0. Results: 734 students participated, being 236 aged 12 and 498 aged 15, with response rates of 47.58% and 100%, respectively. It could be observed that, regarding the variable access, 9.3% (n=68) of the schoolchildren reported they had never had access to any information about proper nutrition. The main person / professional who had provided those teenagers with this information was the nurse (91.6% / n= 663), and the radio was the main means (90.2% / n=654). 80.0% of the respondents (n= 585) reported they had had access to the topic "Healthy and unhealthy eating". Most respondents reported difficulties in understanding, evaluation, and application of healthy eating information. Conclusion: Those teenagers’ food literacy was adequate in the access dimension, but there were difficulties in the understanding, evaluation and application of information dimensions. Thus, the need to perform health care in a broader way is confirmed, with interventions that provide effective food literacy for adolescents, culminating in better health outcomes.