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Epidemiology

Intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and added sugars by the Brazilian population: an indicator to evaluate diet quality

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 1316–1324 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objective

In recent decades, changes in the diet of Brazilians have been characterized by increased consumption of high energy-dense foods, rich in fat and sugar. This study was aimed at assessing diet quality based on the intake of foods with high content of solid fat and added sugars (SoFAS).

Subjects/methods

The first Brazilian National Dietary Survey (2008–2009) is a nationwide representative cross-sectional study that collected food records from 34,003 ≥ 10-year-old individuals. A receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to determine the limit that would identify diets with high SoFAS content.

Results

The limit of 45% of total dietary energy provided by SoFAS was adopted to classify diets with excessive content. The SoFAS provided 53% of daily energy intake to adolescents, 49% to adults, and 48% to the elderly. A high intake of SoFAS was found in 64.7% of adolescents, 59.1% of adults, and 57.8% of the elderly. The contribution of SoFAS to daily energy intake increased with income in all age groups. Those with high consumption of SoFAS had higher intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages, cookies and cakes, processed meats, chips, candy and chocolate, and sandwiches and snacks, when compared with those that had moderate SoFAS intake (<45% of daily energy).

Conclusions

The 45% cutoff point for the contribution of SoFAS foods to total energy intake, utilized to classify low-quality diets, allowed to point out the high-risk profile of the Brazilian diet.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq—Process 480296/2007-3).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curso de Nutrição. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Aluizio da Silva Gomes, 50-Novo Cavaleiros, CEP 27930-560, Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Luana Silva Monteiro

  2. Faculdade de Nutrição. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Avenida Fernando Corrêa da Costa, 2367. Bairro Boa Esperança, CEP 78060-900, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil

    Paulo Rogério Melo Rodrigues

  3. Instituto de Medicina Social—Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Pavilhão João Lyra Filho, 7° andar, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rosely Sichieri

  4. Departamento de Nutrição Social e Aplicada, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, 373. Edifício do Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco J, 2° andar, Cidade Universitária, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rosangela Alves Pereira

Authors
  1. Luana Silva Monteiro
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  2. Paulo Rogério Melo Rodrigues
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  3. Rosely Sichieri
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  4. Rosangela Alves Pereira
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Contributions

LSM and PRMR contributed to data analysis and interpretation and paper writing. RS contributed to data interpretation and paper revision. RAP contributed to the conception and design of this study, data analysis and interpretation, and paper writing and critical revision.

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Correspondence to Luana Silva Monteiro.

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Monteiro, L.S., Rodrigues, P.R.M., Sichieri, R. et al. Intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and added sugars by the Brazilian population: an indicator to evaluate diet quality. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 1316–1324 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0582-y

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