Consumo de frutas, legumes e verduras em um censo escolar de zona rural

Abstract

To evaluate the frequency of inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables and associated variables in adolescents from primary education in a municipality in the south of Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in Barão do Triunfo, RS, Brazil, with adolescents from grades 5 to 8, from the municipal school system. Self-administered self-administered questionnaires were administered, one to the adolescents, the other to the parents, answered by interviews or taken by the students to be answered at home. The consumption of fruits and vegetables was evaluated through the frequency of consumption with cut-off point for regular consumption higher than five or more times in the week, being inadequate below this, and associated to the variables: socioeconomic level, parents' schooling and consumption of ultraprocessed foods. Results: Inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables was reported by 49.2%, 57.5% and 55.3% of adolescents respectively and the higher consumption of these was associated with higher consumption of ultraprocessed foods, especially salty snacks, cakes, sweet and stuffed cookies and was influenced by the socioeconomic level and schooling of the parents. Conclusions: Ingestion of fruits and vegetables by adolescents from the rural area of Barão do Triunfo, despite being relatively superior to the consumption found in non-rural populations, remains below the recommendations.