| Summary: | Aim: To investigate the association between maternal sociodemographic factors and high consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) among children. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 154 mothers of children aged 2–5 years who attended a primary health care unit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Data were collected using a questionnaire about children's consumption of UPF on the previous day and maternal sociodemographic factors. Children's UPF consumption score was derived from the sum of the all positive responses (yes) to a list of 11 UPF groups. Based on the UPF consumption score distribution, children were classified as having a 'higher consumption', when UPF consumption score was above the 75th percentile (> 5 food groups). Associations between maternal sociodemographic factors and high UPF consumption were estimated using crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR). Results: High consumption of UPF in their children's diet was reported by 46.8% of mothers. The most commonly consumed foods were sweet or savoury biscuits (83.2%), margarine (61.3%), and yoghurt (59.4%). The adjusted model identified that children of younger mothers (PR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.12–1.50) with few years of education (PR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.11–1.42), who received social benefits (PR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.05–1.32), and with a normal-weight BMI (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m) (PR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.02–1.26) were more likely to have a high consumption of UPF. Conclusions: The findings show that high consumption of UPF was prevalent in this population of children. Therefore, there is a need to implement intervention programmes in preschool and primary care to provide more educational information to mothers and promote healthy family eating.
|
|---|