Calorie labeling in menus is not effective to promote healthier food choices. Further research in real-life settings with control groups should test diverse qualitative information in menu labeling.

Este trabalho buscou identificar, em mulheres universitárias, aquelas que apresentavam fatores de risco para o desenvolvimento de distúrbios alimentares. Aplicou-se o questionário Eating Attitudes Test em 221 mulheres (114 estudantes de nutrição e 107 estudantes de outras áreas não relacionadas à saúde). Os resultados indicaram que 22,17% das estudantes apresentaram fatores de risco para o desenvolvimento de distúrbio alimentar, sendo que no grupo de alunas da nutrição o percentual foi maior (25,43%) do que no grupo de estudantes de outros cursos (18,69%). Embora a diferença não tenha sido significativa, as futuras nutricionistas podem estar inseridas em um ambiente mais favorável ao desenvolvimento de distúrbios alimentares.

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Among the risk factors for eating disorders, social and family environment and the media were the most important ones. The influence of the media and social environment has been related to the worship of thinness. As to family environment, mealtimes appeared to be fundamental in shaping eating behavior and the development of disorders. Eating disorders were associated with nutritional problems (growing impairment and weight gain), oral health (cheilitis, dental erosion, periodontitis, and hypertrophy of salivary glands), and social prejudice.

ConclusãoOs hábitos dos estudantes indicam a necessidade de empregar estratégias educacionais que promovam a adoção de hábitos e comportamentos mais saudáveis. ConclusionResults suggest that strategies must be employed, such as parent's counseling and development of school programs, in order to prevent possible health problems in the studied population.

Purpose -A gluten-free diet is the only possible treatment for coeliac disease, but studies about the nutritional content of gluten-free products and coeliac individual's diet quality are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the availability, price, and nutritional composition of gluten-free products in retail stores of a Brazilian capital city. Design/methodology/approach -All retail stores listed by the Brazilian Coeliac Association as gluten-free product selling places in the city of Florian opolis were visited. All available products were catalogued and their labels analysed for nutritional content. Similar gluten-containing products were systematically selected in order to allow comparisons. t-test, analyses of covariance, and cluster analysis were performed, all considering a 5 per cent significance level. Findings -Availability and variety of gluten-free products was limited and prices were high. Cluster analysis found similarities in the nutritional content of gluten-free and conventional food products, suggesting that although raw materials different than wheat were being employed, the composition patterns are the same. Certain advantages in the composition of gluten-free products were observed, regarding mainly calories and sodium, however, protein and dietary fibre values were inferior. Social implications -Results observed may negatively impact diet adherence and stimulate the intake of conventional products with harmful consequences to the quality of life and health of coeliac individuals. Originality/value -This paper conducted a careful evaluation of nutrition composition of gluten-free products from different categories, available in retail stores, which is rare in researches on this topic. Moreover, results call attention to the need of better care in product formulation and dietary guidance for coeliac individuals.The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

The present study investigated the perceptions of individuals with celiac disease about gluten-free (GF) products, their consumer behavior and which product is the most desired. A survey was used to collect information. Descriptive analysis, χ² tests and Multiple Logistic Regressions were conducted. Ninety-one questionnaires were analyzed. Limited variety and availability, the high price of products and the social restrictions imposed by the diet were the factors that caused the most dissatisfaction and difficulty. A total of 71% of the participants confirmed having moderate to high difficulty finding GF products. The logistic regression identified a significant relationship between dissatisfaction, texture and variety (p < 0.05) and between variety and difficulty of finding GF products (p < 0.05). The sensory characteristics were the most important variables considered for actual purchases. Bread was the most desired product. The participants were dissatisfaction with GF products. The desire for bread with better sensory characteristics reinforces the challenge to develop higher quality baking products.

Many children's food products highlight positive attributes on their front-of-package labels in the form of nutrient claims. This cross-sectional study investigated all retailed packaged foods (n 5620) in a major Brazilian supermarket, in order to identify the availability of products targeted at children, and to compare the nutritional content of products with and without nutrient claims on labels. Data on energy, carbohydrate, protein, fibre, Na and total and SFA content, along with the presence and type of nutrient claims, were obtained in-store from labels of all products. Products targeted at children were identified, divided into eight food groups and compared for their nutritional content per 100 g/ml and the presence of nutrient claims using the Mann-Whitney U test (P < 0·05). Of the 535 food products targeted at children (9·5 % of all products), 270 (50·5 %) displayed nutrient claims on their labels. Children's products with nutrient claims had either a similar or worse nutritional content than their counterparts without nutrient claims. The major differences among groups were found in Group 8 (e.g. sauces and ready meals), in which children's products bearing nutrient claims had higher energy, carbohydrate, Na and total and SFA content per 100 g/ml than products without nutrient claims (P < 0·05). This suggests that, to prevent misleading parents who are seeking healthier products for their children, the regulation on the use of nutrient claims should be revised, so that only products with appropriate nutrient profiles are allowed to display them.Key words: Labelling: Food products: Packages: Children: Nutrition Brazil, similar to most developing countries, has experienced an increasing trend towards purchasing and consuming processed food products (1) , as well as rising rates of overweight, obesity and other non-communicable diseases. The increase in obesity in the country has followed the classical demographic spread from adults to adolescents and then to children (2) . In 2013, 56·9 % of Brazilian adults were overweight and about 20·8 % were obese (3) . From 1974 to 2009, the prevalence of overweight in children (6-11 years) significantly increased among both males (8·3-33·8 %) and females (7·2-30·0 %) (2) , whereas obesity rates among children (5-9 years) reached 15·0 % (4) . Brazilian overweight and obesity rates are higher than global averages, ranking fifth among all countries in terms of number of obese people (5) . It has been estimated that by 2050 the healthcare costs attributable to obesity and overweight-related diseases in Brazil will double from $5·8 billion to $10·1 billion, and that nearly 70 % of Brazilian adults could be overweight if the present trends are sustained (6)