Dietary patterns of Brazilian farmers and their relation with sociodemographic, labor, and lifestyle conditions

Abstract

Background: The eating habits have changed in the last few decades, but few studies prioritize the food consumption of farmers and the rural population. In this scenario, the objective of this paper was to define the dietary patterns of farmers in a Brazilian municipality and explore the sociodemographic, occupational and lifestyle factors to the high adherence these dietary patterns. Methods: This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study of 740 farmers (51.5%, n=381 males; 48.5%, n=359 females) from a municipality in Southeastern Brazil. Food intake data were obtained by applying multipass 24-hour recall and dietary intake was presented in dietary patterns determined by Principal Component Analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation.Results: Three dietary patterns were identified. The first pattern, “local traditional”, was associated with sociodemographic and labor variables, being considered typical of the region's farmer as white race/color (p=0.003), not extra-physical activity (p=0.014) and cultivating 5 or more crops (p=0.005). The permanence of a “traditional Brazilian” pattern and the occurrence of an “industrialized” pattern were also observed. Farmers working in non-conventional agriculture were 54% less adhere to “traditional Brazilian” pattern (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.25–0.86, p=0.014). Individuals aged 50 and over years were 82% less likely (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.10–0.30) to adhere to “industrialized” pattern. Still, individuals of lower socioeconomic class were 52% less likely to adhere to this pattern (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.96). Farmers who spent R$ 200 or more per capita to buy food were more than twice as likely to adhere to this food pattern (95% CI 1.32–3.73), and who had the habit of frequently eating out were 1.62 as likely adhere to “industrialized” pattern (95% CI 1.11–2.36). Conclusion: The findings indicate changes in dietary patterns in rural areas of the country, maintaining a traditional Brazilian pattern, as well as a local and an industrialized pattern. This last pattern demonstrates that the contemporary rural population also opts for a diet with ultra-processed products, being associated with the characteristic habits of a more urbanized rural region.

Energy contribution of NOVA food groups and the nutritional profile of the Brazilian rural workers' diets

“…It was also identified in this study that the caloric contribution of the diet from ultra-processed foods was slightly lower than the national average (17,7% versus 20.4%) [ 15 ]. This small difference is in accordance with the changes in the consumption profile in rural areas [ 33 , 35 – 39 ], due to the low access to healthy food caused by its high cost [ 42 ], difficult access [ 41 , 43 ], low education to provide healthy food choices [ 41 ], the understanding of foods produced only as merchandises [ 3 ], and the influences of rural labor structures [ 41 ].…”

“…Some studies have identified a lower nutritional quality of ultra-processed foods [ 15 – 29 ], however, it seems that the acquisition of this type of food is still less in rural areas [ 30 ] and there are no studies available, so far, on the evaluation of the nutritional profile of the farmers' diet related to the degree and purpose of food processing, even though it has already been identified that this is a group with high cardiovascular risk [ 31 ], multimorbidity [ 32 ] and also adherence to an industrialized dietary pattern [ 33 ]. Because of the “agrarian myth”, it is believed that the traditional agricultural population enjoys a fully healthy life, with excellent eating habits [ 34 ].…”

“…Because of the “agrarian myth”, it is believed that the traditional agricultural population enjoys a fully healthy life, with excellent eating habits [ 34 ]. However, epidemiological studies demonstrate changes in rural eating habits, share many similarities with their urban peers [ 33 , 35 – 39 ]. Although farmers have options to obtain food through their own plantations or community sharing, there are also food deserts in remote agricultural areas [ 40 , 41 ], with high costs for healthy foods [ 42 ], difficult access due the long distances or lack of means of transport, and difficulty in adequate storage of fresh and healthy products [ 41 , 43 ].…”

Assessing the Associations of the Parental Beliefs and Practices about Child Feeding and its Impact on Child Weight

“…The present study showed factor loadings ranged of satisfied from (54.1%) to (95.6%), while the total Child Feeding satisfied were (98.7%) and the data ranged from(60-125)by mean +SD(97.307±10.705), regarding the perceived responsibility the majority of parental in the satisfied were (90.2%) and the data ranged from (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)by mean +SD(11.441±2.747)(see table3). Birch et al did not find a correlation between perceived responsibility and restriction [31], our findings are consistent with those of a study involving Turkish mothers [30].…”

“…The World Health Organization [3] recognised obesity as a major public health epidemic. Obesity is a multi-factorial problem, because of rapidly changing social, economic, and physical environments that have led to an energy imbalance in the population through a dramatic reduction in physical activity [4][5] and changes in dietary patterns [6]. Parental convictions and practices in children's nutrition also additionally who can impact their dietary status.…”