Purpose This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a nutritional counselling intervention based on encouraging the consumption of unprocessed and minimally processed foods, rather than ultra-processed products, and the practice of physical activities to prevent excessive gestational weight gain in overweight pregnant women. Methods This was a two-armed, parallel, randomized controlled trial conducted in primary health units of a Brazilian municipality from 2018 to 2021. Overweight, adult pregnant women (n = 350) were randomly assigned to control (CG) or intervention groups (IG). The intervention consisted of three individualized nutritional counselling sessions based on encouraging the consumption of unprocessed and minimally processed foods rather than ultra-processed products, following the NOVA food classification system, and the practice of physical activities. The primary outcome was the proportion of women whose weekly gestational weight gain (GWG) exceeded the Institute of Medicine guidelines. Adjusted logistic regression models were employed. Results Complete data on weight gain were available for 121 women of the IG and 139 of the CG. In modified intentionto-treat analysis, there was a lower chance of the IG women having excessive GWG [OR 0.56 (95% CI 0.32, 0.98), p = .04], when compared to the CG. No between-group differences were observed for the other maternal outcomes investigated. Conclusion The present study was unprecedented in demonstrating that nutritional counselling based on the NOVA food classification system, together with encouraging the practice of physical activity, is effective in preventing excessive weight gain in overweight pregnant women. Trial registration Registered on July 30th 2018 at Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (RBR-2w9bhc).

This study presents data on the centesimal composition and antioxidant compounds content of two Brazilian Cerrado fruits: Bromelia balansae Mez (gravata) and Inga laurina (Sw) Willd (inga). The centesimal composition followed the methodology recommended by the Adolfo Lutz Institute, except for lipids in which the method proposed by Bligh and Dyer was used. The dosage of vitamin C was performed by the spectrophotometric method and the Folin-Ciocalteu method was used for the phenolic compounds. In relation to the centesimal composition, both fruits presented high moisture content. Regarding proteins and lipids, the values found in the experiment were low, as well as the ashes in Inga laurina (Sw) Willd. Bromelia balansae Mez presented a considerable amount of ashes, on the carbohydrates both fruits are approximate the content found in fruits such as apple (15.2%). As for the antioxidant compounds, the fruits stood out when compared with others of this same biome, especially the phenolics. The selected fruits present considerable phenolic contents. Regarding the nutritional composition, both fruits presented low protein, lipids and caloric content, and the ashes, moisture, and carbohydrates were the most important when compared to other fruits of the same biome. The presence of phenolics and vitamin C make this fruit a promising source of antioxidant compounds whose cultivation should be stimulated.

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