Consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados e gordura corporal da infância ao início da adolescência: Coorte de Nascimentos de Pelotas de 2004

Abstract

Ultra-processed food represents, currently, one of the main sources of food supply in high-, middle- and low-middle-income countries, creating an obesogenic environment. Thus, the first aim of this thesis was to review systematically the literature about the relation between ultra-processed food consumption and body fat among children and adolescents. The results showed a positive relationship in the majority of studies included in the review. However, these studies did not apply NOVA classification, which proposes a food distribution in four groups, according to the processing degree (unprocessed or minimally processed food, processed culinary ingredients, processed food and ultraprocessed food). We developed two more articles using this classification, one aiming to describe ultra-processed food consumption in three different ages (11, 22 and 30 years old), analyzing data from The Pelotas 2004, 1993 and 1982 Birth Cohorts; and another to investigate the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and body fat from childhood to the beginning of adolescence, with data from Pelotas 2004 Birth Cohort, in the 6- and 11-year follow-ups. In general, the results showed a higher ultra-processed food consumption among participants of the youngest cohort (2004, at 11 years old), compared to the others. As for the relationship with body fat, our study showed an important effect of ultra-processed food intake from childhood to early adolescence over the body fat index change in the period. An increase of 100 grams in daily intake of these products was associated to an average gain of 0.14 kg/m² in Fat Mass Index. In addition, our results suggest that the role of food processing in body fat accumulation seems not to be due exclusively by its caloric content.