Assessment of Nutrient and Food Group Intakes across Sex, Physical Activity, and Body Mass Index in an Urban Brazilian Population

Abstract

The burden of preventable diet-related diseases is significant and becoming worse. Thus, accurately assessing food intake is crucial to guide public health policies and actions. Using food dietary recalls, we evaluated usual dietary intake according to physical activity and nutritional status in an adult urban population from Brasília, Brazil. The usual nutrient and energy intakes distributions were estimated using the Iowa State University (ISU) method. Energy and nutrient intakes were stratified by gender, age group, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity (PA). The prevalence of inadequate intake was highest for vitamins E and D. Both men and women had excessive sodium intake. The percentage of intakes below daily serving recommendations for food groups were 96% for cereals, 74% for vegetables, and 87% for dairy products, whereas percentage of intakes above daily serving recommendations were 97% for meat, 93% for pulses, and 99% for fat/oils. Energy and nutrient intakes were highest in overweight and physically active individuals within the categories of BMI and physical activity, respectively. Our study found that high-income urban Brazilians consume large quantities of meat, beans, fat/oils, and exhibit a low prevalence of nutrient inadequacies but have excessive sodium intake. Energy and nutrient intakes are highest among men, as well as overweight and physically active individuals.

Contribution of Major Groups of Food Products to the Daily Intake of Selected Elements—Results from Analytical Determinations Supported by Chemometric Analysis

“…Moreover, the present study revealed that the consumption of meat and sweets and sugars was also much higher compared to that shown by previous research performed among an adult Polish population [3]. In another study, Sousa and Da Costa [12] revealed that the Brazilian adult population consumed fruits and cereals in the highest amounts and indicated a very high consumption of meat and sugars, which is in agreement with the results of the present study.…”

“…Daily intake of particular elements was compared with the actual Polish dietary reference intake standards defined by the National Institute of Food and Nutrition [18], which are mandatory for the adult population in Poland. The daily sodium intake was compared to the value of adequate intake (AI), and the intake of three other macroelements was compared to the estimated average requirement (EAR), which is considered the most appropriate to compare the average intake level in the population [12,[18][19][20][21][22]. Obtained results showed that meat and meat products contribute to almost 38% of sodium intake among men and 32% among women.…”

“…Such studies not only compare the consumption of individual substances with the recommended values but also compare the eating trends between different parts of the world and track their variability in different regions or countries. Moreover, the results thus obtained contribute to correcting eating habits and thus are of great importance in the prevention of diet-related diseases and for medical and food services in particular countries [12].…”

“…Adequate evaluation of food intake is important for determining the dietary trends and assessing the effects of interventions on the population. However, the determination of dietary intake is challenging since food consumption is a complex phenomenon that is very difficult to analyze; thus, a suitable food intake methodology is required in order to obtain reliable data [12]. Studies on mineral intake, which are based on analytical determinations, are difficult to conduct and more expensive; thus, the majority of the data found in the scientific literature are based on computer evaluation.…”

“…This study used a combination of various methods required to obtain reliable nutritional data. Dietary intake data were assessed using the 24-h dietary recall technique, which is the best self-report dietary assessment instrument [12][13][14]. The resulting data were processed using Dieta 5.0 Software (National Food and Nutrition Institute, Warsaw, Poland), which is recognized as the most suitable software for processing nutritional data by the Polish Food and Nutrition Institute in Warsaw.…”