Diet quality scores based on the Nova classification: innovation in monitoring healthy and sustainable diets and predicting the risk of non-communicable chronic diseases

• Grant number: 24/04234-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutritional Analysis of Population
• Principal Investigator: Maria Laura da Costa Louzada
• Grantee: Leandro Teixeira Cacau
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/05636-0 - Program of population studies on the consumption of ultraprocessed foods and health, AP.TEM

Abstract

The Nova screener is an easy-to-operate and low-cost instrument designed to assess food consumption according to the degree of food processing in adults. Through it, it is possible to generate two diet quality scores: the Nova ultra-processed foods score (Nova-UPF) and the Nova minimally processed whole plant foods score (Nova-WPF), which serve as promising indicators for use in the evaluation of healthy and sustainable diets in epidemiological studies and in food and nutritional surveillance. However, complementary results of predictive capacity and adaptations for other age groups, such as the child population, are needed. Thus, the present project, which will be executed in two distinct stages, aims to evaluate the predictive capacity of the Nova scores regarding the healthiness and sustainability of the diet and the prediction of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) in adults, and to propose a Nova screener for children <5 years old. In Stage 1, data from the NutriNet-Brazil Study, an ongoing cohort that follows more than 100,000 individuals aged >18 years who periodically respond to the Nova screener, in addition to 24-hour dietary recalls (24h-DR), will be used. The Nova scores will be validated regarding their ability to predict diet healthiness and sustainability through comparison with the nutritional profile and indicators of environmental impacts, calculated based on food consumption obtained by the R24h method. In the cohort, the relationships between Nova scores and the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus will be investigated. In Stage 2, data from the National Survey on Child Feeding and Nutrition (ENANI-2019), a national survey with children <5 years old, will be used. Food consumption assessed by 24h-DR will be used for the development of the Nova screener and consequently the ultra-processed foods (UPF) score for children <5 years old. The project will contribute to the scientific community by delivering validation results of the Nova scores, as well as a product in a gap: an indicator for assessing UPF consumption for children <5 years old. The project may support the use of short and practical screeners and scores in monitoring healthy and sustainable diets and in food and nutritional surveillance and epidemiological studies.