To discover the new eating pattern of the Brazilian population, researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) are going to carry out the largest study ever made of people's daily eating habits.
Coordinated by the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (Nupens) of the Faculty of Public Health (FSP) at USP, it will be the first academic survey carried out in Brazil using only cell phones.
The core seeks to carry out an ambitious study with 200,000 people from all regions of the country, in order to identify which are the characteristics that increase or decrease the risk of frequent diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease and cancer.
Studies on dietary patterns are increasingly frequent to identify the relationship with the risk of developing chronic diseases. Discovering feeding profiles allows recognition of the importance of certain patterns and protect populations from disease and promote health.
“Food is determined by people's culture, history and habits and it is not necessarily possible to apply results from another country other than within our own. Therefore, it is very important to study what is the dietary pattern of Brazilians. In addition to discovering the characteristics of this pattern. That has regional variation and that will protect the health of Brazilians themselves”. Explained Maria Laura Louzada, professor at the Department of Nutrition at FSP-USP and Nupens researcher, in an interview with Journal of USP on Air.
Brazilian food pattern
According to Maria Laura, the objective of the study is to observe and also understand how the Brazilian diet is changing, which has been using more and more industrialized products. It will impact people's health over the years. “We know that this pattern is changing and we are increasingly approaching the pattern of northern countries”, says the professor. Nupens aims to understand how the choice for changes or not in eating habits will correspond with the health or illness of the population.
“In the future we are going to combine the participants' information with other information such as hospitalizations, cancer records and even mortality records. In order to be able to say what is the risk of developing these diseases or even dying from one of these diseases depending on the eating pattern”, says Carlos Augusto Monteiro, professor at the Faculty of Public Health at USP.
The researchers highlighted that in Brazil, there are several different food cultures. In the Southeast region, for example, there is a greater consumption of rice, beans, bread and processed foods, such as soft drinks, biscuits and snacks. And a lower consumption of greens and vegetables.
“This information will certainly help our country and our society to have public policies informed by science. Public policies have to be based on evidence, based on science and this is the main contribution of the Nutrinet Brasil study”, concludes Monteiro.
To participate, volunteers need to register on the website of the Nutrinet Brazil Study.
