Analysis of the relationship between the food environment and the excess of abdominal fat in children living in Santos

• Grant number: 13/08876-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: September 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutritional Analysis of Population
• Principal Investigator: Paula Andrea Martins
• Grantee: Matheus Ribeiro Theodósio Fernandes Melzer
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The worldwide epidemic of obesity has been reaching a growing number of children. Among the ways in which obesity affects the health of the individual, especially the excess of abdominal fat, some health risks such as diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia can be highlighted in both adults and children. The neighborhood food environment, understood as the availability and access to food in food stores and restaurants located nearby households, may have some association with the nutritional status of the child. The aim of this study is to analyze the association between the food environment and the excess of abdominal fat in children living in Santos. It will be analyzed data collected in a 2010 baseline survey at home, for which were evaluated socioeconomic and nutritional status data of a sample of 357 families with children between 3 and 10 years. Data collected on the availability, price and quality of food available in 563 food stores and 1209 food restaurants (or outlets of food for immediate consumption - OFICs) will also be analyzed. Geographical coordinates of the households, food stores and restaurants were collected using a Global Positioning System (GPS) device. Through a multilevel model analysis, which considers the context variables, it will be evaluated individual and environmental effects on nutritional status. It's intended to provide results that can support public policies in order to promote health and greater access to healthy food to the population with the results of this project. Statistical analyzes will be performed in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ® (SPSS) software v. 18 and MLwiN ® software v.2.25 for the multilevel model. For the modeling of the geographic information systems and spatial analysis will be used Terraview ® software v. 3.1.4 and ArcView ® software v. 9.2. The significance level has the value of 0.05. (AU)