Caracterização do perfil socioeconômico, dietético e estado nutricional de pré-escolares pertencentes a uma creche do município de Jaçanã RN.

Abstract

With modernity, there have been changes in lifestyle and eating habits of the population in general, especially in children, going through the nutritional transition, which had repercussions in reducing cases of malnutrition, and on the other hand, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Given the above, this study aimed to investigate the socioeconomic and dietary profile, as well as the nutritional status of preschool children in the city of Jaçanã, Rio Grande do Norte. The study was submitted to and approved by the ethics committee and is a quantitative, descriptive, explanatory and exploratory research, with documentary and field study procedures. A specific questionnaire was applied to trace the socioeconomic profile. Food consumption was performed through the application of food diaries with parents and the weight and height of schoolchildren were assessed to assess the nutritional profile. The data were tabulated in electronic spreadsheets and analyzed in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, considering the significance level of 5% (p <0.05). Based on the data obtained, there was adequacy in nutritional assessment, and inadequacy in food consumption related to the socioeconomic levels of parents and/or caregivers. Thus, the socioeconomic level did not have as much direct impact on the anthropometric profile of schoolchildren, but significantly influenced their food intake in a negative way.