Food consumption of adolescents. A simplified questionnaire for evaluating cardiovascular risk

Abstract

Objective -To develop a simplified questionnaire for self-evaluation by adolescents of foods associated with the risk of coronary diseases. Methods -Coronary diseases are ranked as the top causes of death in many countries, including Brazil. The 1960s were marked by an increase in mortality rates from coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, especially in large cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo 1 . In Rio de Janeiro, cardiovascular diseases have been the leading cause of death for the last few years (1996/7/8), affecting both sexes 2 .Multiple risk factors for coronary diseases exist, acting both independently and jointly. Among dietary factors, the most important are: excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, saturated fats, trans fatty acids, cholesterol, and simple carbohydrates. An analysis of the food intake of adolescents from Rio de Janeiro showed that more than 30% were consuming more saturated fats than recommended 3 and that, among the food products frequently consumed by 60% of them, those containing trans fats were common. In these adolescents, high rates of overweight and obesity 4 , in addition to little physical activity, were also present 5 .Quantitative estimates to determine the impact of dietary fats on serum lipid levels were defined by a number of research workers 6 . Keys et al. 7 and Hegsted et al. 8 established a predictive equation for serum cholesterol based on the consumption of saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and cholesterol, whereas Mensink and Katan 9 developed an equation that includes monounsaturated fats as well, but excludes cholesterol.The increasing interest in analyzing the role of dietary exposure during adolescence and the outcome of future diseases is shown by the growing amount of frequency questionnaires, which allow us to evaluate food consumption in the long term 10 . Yet, because questionnaires are long, some studies have simplified them, targeting the intake assessment of specific kinds of food associated with the risk for a particular disease 11,12 . The main purpose of these studies is to identify a small number of food types drawn from a more complex questionnaire capable of obtaining, in the same population, an identical result as that obtained by the longer questionnaire 13 .

Variáveis associadas ao câncer de mama em usuárias de unidades básicas de saúde

“…Os nossos dados mostraram baixa prevalên-cia para este fator (7%), quando analisada com base nas pontuações do instrumento utilizado 17 , que foi construído valendo-se dos hábitos alimentares de adolescentes. Isso pode ter limitado a avaliação desse fator na nossa amostra.…”

“…Além desses, por recomendação de um especialista em nutrição de que se avaliasse a ingestão de alimentos gordurosos, foi utilizado o questionário simplificado de consumo de alimentos de risco para doença cardiovascular, desenvolvido por Chiara & Sichieri 17 , testado e validado em adolescentes da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Este instrumento considera os seguintes alimentos: batata frita, carne vermelha, biscoitos, bolos ou tortas, leite integral, hambúrguer, queijo, manteiga ou margarina e salsicha.…”

Factors associated with risk of low folate intake among adolescents

“…A adolescência vem sendo destacada como um período de risco para dietas deficientes em micronutrientes e ricas em energia e gorduras saturadas 2,3 , comprometendo a saúde na vida adulta e elevando as taxas de doenças crônicas. A análise de alguns estudos internacionais com adolescentes aponta média de ingestão de folato abaixo da estimativa de requerimento médio (estimated average requirement EAR) das novas recomendações 1 e que, nos últimos estudos comparativos, a prevalência de adolescentes com esse comportamento aumentou, sugerindo que o risco para ingestão insuficiente de folato inicia nesse ciclo da vida.…”

Fatores associados ao risco de ingestão insuficiente de folato entre adolescentes

“…Folate intake is dependent on dietary habits that provide adequate quantities of dark green vegetables, beans, fruit, cow s liver and enriched or fortified foods. 1 Adolescence is being focused on as a period of high risk for diets that are deficient in micronutrients and rich in energy and saturated fats, 2,3 compromising health in adulthood and driving up chronic disease rates. Analysis of certain international studies of adolescents indicates that the average level of folate intake is below the estimated average requirement (EAR) in the most recent recommendations 1 and that the most recent comparative studies show that the prevalence of adolescents with such habits has increased, suggesting that the risk for low folate intake begins at this stage of the lifecycle.…”