Meal and snack patterns of 7–13-year-old schoolchildren in southern Brazil

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the current study was to identify and describe the meal and snack patterns (breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and evening snack) of public schoolchildren. Design: Cross-sectional study. Information on the previous day’s food intake was obtained through the Web-CAAFE (Food Intake and Physical Activity of Schoolchildren), an interactive questionnaire, which divides daily food consumption into three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and three snacks (mid-morning, mid-afternoon and evening). Each meal contains thirty-one food items and the schoolchildren clicked on the food items consumed in each meal. Factor analysis was used to identify meal and snack patterns. The descriptions of the dietary patterns (DP) were based on food items with factor loads ≥ 0·30 that were considered representative of each DP. Setting: Schoolchildren, Florianopolis, Brazil. Participants: Children (n 1074) aged 7–13 years. Results: Lunch was the most consumed meal (96·0 %), followed by dinner (86·4 %), breakfast (85·3 %) and mid-afternoon snack (81·7 %). Four DP were identified for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, dinner and evening snack, and three for mid-afternoon snack. Breakfast, lunch and dinner patterns included traditional Brazilian foods. DP consisting of fast foods and sugary beverages were also observed, mainly for the evening snack. Conclusions: The results of the current study provide important information regarding the meal and snack patterns of schoolchildren to guide the development of nutrition interventions in public health.

Development of a Food-Based Diet Quality Scale for Brazilian Schoolchildren Using Item Response Theory

“…The description of the Web-CAAFE study design and sampling procedure has been published previously [ 17 , 18 ]. In brief, for the 2013–2015 surveys, primary sampling units were eligible classrooms (2nd to 5th grades) which were randomly selected from the complete list of schools with computer rooms (34 out of 37 schools with 6227 students enrolled in 2013; 34 out of 36 schools with 6500 students in 2014; 35 out of 36 schools with 7104 students in 2015) [ 17 , 19 ].…”

“…For the 2017 survey, all public schools serving the 2nd to 5th grades with a computer room were considered eligible (19 schools), representing the five geographical regions of the city. Nine schools were randomly selected with 2333 students enrolled [ 18 ]. All students from 2nd to 5th grades were invited to participate.…”

“…Web-CAAFE assesses food consumption of the previous day and was developed to investigate the consumption frequency of specific foods (not nutrients) [ 17 , 18 ]. The food selection displayed as images/icons in the diet section took into account their frequency of intake in this age group as reported previously by 180 schoolchildren in 7-day food diaries, the foods presented in school menus [ 13 ], as well as the foods recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population (DGBP) [ 25 , 26 ].…”

“…The Web-CAAFE (Food Intake and Physical Activity of Schoolchildren) is a validated SFQ designed for 7–10-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren to provide information on obesity-risk-related dietary behaviours [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. It may be a suitable tool to which an index can be applied; however, new psychometric approaches to develop such measures call for better analytical methods beyond what CTT can provide.…”

Most meal and snack patterns are stable over a 3‐year period in schoolchildren in southern Brazil

“…A Brazilian crosssectional study identified MPs and SPs in children aged 7-13 years using factor analysis, showing that breakfast, lunch and dinner patterns were characterised by traditional Brazilian foods (e.g. bread, cheese, processed meats, coffee with milk, rice, beans and beef/ poultry); however, the patterns consisting of fast foods and soft beverages were also observed, mainly for the evening snack (Cezimbra et al, 2020).…”