Consumo de açúcares adicionados entre estudantes adolescentes do ensino fundamental e médio do município de Belém - PB.

Abstract

The adolescence phase comprises the age group between 10 and 19 years and is characterized by intense physical changes that demand increased energy needs, as it is a phase of greater speed of human growth. At this stage, the high consumption of ultra-processed products is a matter of concern because they contain ingredients and substances in their compositions that, when consumed in large quantities, are harmful to health, such as sugar, which appears on the labels of these products with a variety of denominations, making their use difficult. identification. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the consumption of added sugars in the diet of adolescent students from public schools. The study was carried out with 120 students from 3 municipal and state schools in the urban area of the municipality of Belém-PB, enrolled between the 6th grade of elementary school II to the 3rd year of high school, with ages ranging from 10 complete years to 19 years, 11 months and 29 days, of both sexes. Two questionnaires were used, one to obtain sociodemographic and socioeconomic data, and the other for frequency and preference for processed foods. A percentage description of frequency was performed using the statistical program Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 22.0. The study included 120 adolescents with a higher concentration of students (96.64%) in the higher grades, from the 9th to the 3rd year of high school. The foods most frequently consumed by adolescents were sweetened coffee (9.32%), cornstarch biscuits (6.72%), sweetened natural juice (6.84%) and stuffed biscuits (5.93%). Analyzing the consumption preference, some foods that received higher scores stand out, such as birthday cake (59.48%), mousse-type desserts (57.52%), ice cream (57.52%), brigadeiro (56, 90%), simple cake (51.30%), etc. It should be noted that these foods, although they do not coincide with those consumed more frequently, are high-calorie foods, whose consumption should be avoided. The high consumption and appreciation for ultra-processed foods found in this research is a fact that deserves attention, since they are foods that can negatively affect the nutritional status, leading to the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. In this sense, the need for interventions aimed at changing the eating habits of this public is clear, with the reduction of consumption of the studied foods.