Frequência de refeições e associação com estado nutricional e marcadores cardiometabólicos em adolescentes de escolas públicas de João Pessoa, Paraíba

Abstract

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of obesity among younger and younger populations has been observed in several parts of the world and is a condition associated with the presence of central risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiological studies in adolescents have shown an inverse relationship between meal frequency and body weight and abdominal adiposity. Recently, this effect has also been observed in relation to serum lipid concentrations, but the data are still inconsistent. Objective: to analyze the association of meal frequency with nutritional status and cardiometabolic markers of adolescents from public schools in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, based on data from the LONCAAFS study, with a representative sample of adolescents of both sexes, sixth-year students from public schools in the city of João Pessoa, PB, totaling 1,438 individuals. Food consumption was assessed through the 24-hour Reminder. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) were performed to classify the nutritional status through BMI, waist / height ratio and conicity index. To evaluate the lipid profile, blood was collected in a subsample (n = 808) and serum levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and plasma triglycerides were measured. Adolescents were stratified into two groups, according to the median energy consumption (2040.5kcal). To evaluate the association of meal frequency with nutritional status and lipid profile, logistic regression models were used. The level of significance was set at p <0.05. Results: The percentage of overweight in the study population was 32%. Among adolescents who performed blood collection, approximately 77% had dyslipidemia. In the stratified analysis, the highest number of meals was inversely associated with abdominal obesity in the group with energy consumption below the median. In individuals with energy consumption above the median, there was a tendency to the higher the number of meals, the lower the chance of low HDL-c (p = 0.03). There was no significant association between number of meals and the other variables of cardiometabolic risk. Conclusion: Meal frequency was significantly associated with abdominal obesity in subjects with energy consumption below the median ingestion of the population and with HDL-c in subjects with energy consumption above the median.