Sobrepeso e obesidade: consumo alimentar e (in) segurança alimentar.

Abstract

Human life had diverse repercussions with the coronavirus pandemic, mainly with regard to biopsychosocial and economic issues and food and nutritional insecurity. In this context, overweight is one of the public health problems that stands out, and it may be important to compare information from the same public in order to evaluate and plan actions, given the complexity of these issues. Thus, this study aimed to investigate, among adults with some level of overweight, aspects related to food consumption, body weight and food (in)security before and after the coronavirus pandemic. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study with an intentional sample. Data were collected in 2020 and 2022 with overweight adults linked to the Basic Family Health Unit III – Elda Maria, in the city of Nova Floresta, in Paraíba, Brazil. The data are part of a larger project entitled “Overweight and obesity: investigations into the body, food consumption and food (in)security”. The questionnaire was divided into five modules, namely: I - Social and Economic Information; II - Recent weight gain/loss; III - Food Consumption and Practices; IV - Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA) and V - Weight and height self-reported by respondents. The questionnaire was structured and collected using the KoBoToolbox software tool with an interface with the Excel program. In this research, the people evaluated showed improvement in food security and in part of the social data of schooling and marital status, these changes seem to be related to receiving emergency aid in the face of the pandemic, since almost all of them have this as their main source of income. And despite this, attention is drawn to changes in relationships with food, as soon as it still refers to weight gain and loss, the presence of the dimension of pleasure and displeasure linked to food that previously did not exist, the decrease in satisfaction with the body, even when body weight seems adequate, greater diversification of purchases in smaller establishments (free markets and markets), when evaluating the influences on income and people's opinion remain items that are not recognized, however, the belief in influences is reduced determined by food preferences and concerns about one's own diet. When asked about the dimension of pleasure in eating, health was the most frequent item, on the other hand, in 2022, the frequency of the dimension linked to pleasure in eating and health and the perception that other factors, or even not caring about health, decreased. food is among people's life issues at the time of the interview were more present. Among the interviewees, people ate completely restricted to their own homes, unlike in 2020, when people still ate outside their homes. Although the quantity is satisfactory, the quality appears more frequently, as well as eating more than necessary.