Journal Article

Processed and ultra-processed foods are associated with high prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and low prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy in adolescents from public schools in an urban area of northeastern Brazil

Lima, Severina Carla Vieira Cunha, Falcão, Raphaela Cecília Thé Maia de Arruda, Sena-Evangelista, Karine Cavalcanti Maurício, Lyra, Clélia de Oliveira, Pedrosa, Lucia Fátima Campos, Pinheiro, Liana Galvão Bacurau, Morais, Célia Márcia Medeiros de

2019

Overview

Changes in eating behavior of adolescents are associated with high consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods. This study evaluated the association between these foods and the prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 444 adolescents from public schools in the city of Natal, northeastern Brazil. The adolescents' habitual food consumption was evaluated using two 24-hour dietary recalls. Foods were categorized according to the degree of processing (processed and ultra-processed) and distributed into energy quartiles, using the NOVA classification system. Inadequacies in micronutrient intake were assessed using the estimated average requirement (EAR) as the cutoff point. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between energy percentage from processed and ultra-processed foods and prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake. The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) consumption of total energy from processed foods ranged from 5.8% (1.7%) in Q1 to 20.6% (2.9%) in Q4, while the mean consumption of total energy from ultra-processed foods ranged from 21.4% (4.9%) in Q1 to 61.5% (11.7%) in Q4. The rates of inadequate intake of vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, calcium, and selenium were above 80% for both sexes across all age groups. Energy consumption from processed foods was associated with higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake (p < 0.01) and lower prevalence of inadequate vitamin B1 intake (p = 0.04). Energy consumption from ultra-processed foods was associated with lower prevalence of inadequate zinc and vitamin B1 intake (p < 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). An increase in the proportion of energy obtained from processed and ultra-processed foods may reflect higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and lower prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adolescent / Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Adolescents / Biology and Life Sciences / Brazil / Calcium / Child / Child development / Diet / Eating behavior / Energy consumption / Energy Intake / Evaluation / Fast Foods - adverse effects / Fast Foods - statistics & numerical data / Female / Folic acid / Food / Food consumption / Food habits / Food processing / Health sciences / High schools / Humans / Male / Medicine and Health Sciences / Nutrition research / People and Places / Physical Sciences / Processed foods / Quartiles / Recommended Dietary Allowances / Regression analysis / Regression models / Schools / Schools - statistics & numerical data / Selenium / Selenium (Chemical element) / Selenium - deficiency / Selenium - metabolism / Social Sciences / Sugar / Systematic review / Teenagers / Thiamine - metabolism / Thiamine Deficiency - epidemiology / Urban areas / Urban Population - statistics & numerical data / Urban schools / Vitamin B1 / Vitamin D / Vitamin E / Vitamins / Youth / Zinc / Zinc - deficiency / Zinc - metabolism