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.本研究旨在评估圣卡塔琳娜州伊塔雅伊市一所公立学校一至五年级学龄儿童的饮食质量及其相关影响因素。研究采用基于食物消费频率为每种食物赋予对应评分的指数，对饮食质量进行分析。通过问卷收集社会经济状况、人口学特征及健康相关行为相关数据，并采用泊松回归计算粗患病率比、校正患病率比（PR）及其95%置信区间（95%CI）。本研究共纳入523名儿童，占预计样本量的88.9%；其中52.6%（95%CI：48.3%~56.9%）的儿童饮食质量被评定为较差，饮食评分均值为6.97，评分区间为-9至+17分。女性性别（PR=0.81，95%CI：0.66~0.98）与较低的受教育程度（PR=1.35，95%CI：1.04~1.75）与该结局相关。存在腹部肥胖及进餐时观看电视的儿童饮食质量更差，已知进餐时观看电视与进食量增加相关。儿童自身及照料者相关变量均与较差的饮食质量存在关联。因此，旨在改善儿童饮食质量的相关活动应覆盖儿童及其照料者。