Diet quality and associated factors in children enrolled in a municipal school of Itajaí, Santa Catarina

The study aimed to evaluate quality of diet and associated factors in schoolchildren from first to fifth grade in a public school in Itajaí, Santa Catarina. The quality of the diet was analyzed using an index that gave to each food item a score as their frequency of consumption. Socioeconomic, demographic, and health-related behaviors were identified by questionnaire. Crude, adjusted prevalence ratios (PR), and theirs 95% confidence intervals were calculated (95%CI) through Poisson regression. Were evaluated 523 children (88.9% of the calculated sample) and 52.6% (95%CI: 48.3-56.9%) had their diet rated as poor, with a mean score of 6.97 ranging from -9 to +17 points. Female gender (PR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.66-0.98) and lower education (PR=1.35, 95%CI: 1.04-1.75) were associated with the outcome. Children with abdominal obesity and who took meals in front of the TV had poorer diet quality, it is known that food consumption in front of television is associated with larger volumes of intake. Children and caregivers variables were related with worse diet quality. Thus, activities to improve the quality of the diet should involve children and their caregivers.