Do campo à cidade: uma análise da frequência do consumo alimentar da população rural e urbana em um município do semiárido nordestino.

Abstract

The Brazilian territory has been undergoing numerous transformations in the political, economic, social, and cultural scenery for a few decades that have demonstrated changes in the way of life of this nation. Significant changes in the health conditions and food consumption of the population have been observed due to the accelerated demographic, epidemiological, and nutritional changes. Adequate food is essential for the growth and development of human beings, the proper performance of their functions, and the maintenance of a good state of health. International and national studies suggest that the pattern of food consumption may differ between the populations of urban and rural areas due, in large part, to the particular phenomena of each region, demonstrating the relevance of investigating food consumption, due to the few existing studies that compare the food consumption of these two populations, being of great importance to understand food insecurity considering that they are regions of different vulnerabilities. Given the above, this study aimed to conduct an analysis of the frequency of consumption of different food groups of the population living in rural and urban regions of the Municipality of Cuité-PB, located in the Northeastern semi-arid region. This study carried out a population-based and representative diagnosis of the Cuité society, based on the "SANCUITÉ" survey, with 274 households surveyed at the end of data collection, and composed the sample of this study, 200 households located in the urban area and 74 in the rural

area. The interviews were carried out in the home and for this study we used the semi- quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire for the three months prior to the survey, containing

85 foods. The frequencies of food consumption according to rural and urban regions of the studied population showed that, for most of the foods investigated, there is a lower proportion of consumption in the rural region when compared to the urban region. Of the 85 (eighty-five) foods present in the questionnaire, for 19, a higher percentage of consumption was observed in the rural area, and these, in turn, were mostly low quality foods. There was a statistical difference for the frequency of consumption between the two areas of residence, some food groups showed a low consumption for both locations. Several conditions may be directly related to the frequency of food consumption of the rural population studied in the municipality of Cuité. Within this sphere one can cite factors related to food availability, socioeconomic conditions of the population, and food production. In summary, it is of paramount importance that studies addressing the food consumption of the population be developed so that actions and public policies can be created and carried out in order to overcome the challenges faced and avoid food and nutrition insecurity. Especially in the rural population, since several factors inherent to the location directly interfere in this consumption, and that comparative studies on the frequency of food consumption with rural and urban regions be carried out, since studies like this are scarce.