Notificação imprecisa da ingestão energética e fatores associados entre usuários de serviços de promoção à saúde de Belo Horizonte-MG

Abstract

Introduction: The assessment of dietary intake is of utmost importance in nutrition science. Thus, valid methods should be used in order to provide reliable information. These methods, however, have some limitations, such as inaccurate reporting or misreporting. Misreporting includes both underreporting and overreporting of dietary intakes, and leads to errors in nutritional studies linking health and diet. Objective: This study aims to assess the prevalence of misreporting of dietary intakes and associated factors among users of Health Promotion Services of Belo Horizonte/MG. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study with users of nine Health Promotion Services - called 'City fitness facilities' - in Belo Horizonte/MG. These users constitute a representative sample for the outcomes assessed. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic and economic variables, as well as questions on health history and perceptions, dietary habits and intake, and nutritional status. The assessment of energy intake was performed using two 24-hour in-person dietary recalls. A third dietary recall was conducted via telephone with a subsample of participants. The usual intake of energy and specific nutrients was estimated by the Multiple Source Method. Misreporting of energy intake was determined by using the method by McCrory et al. (2002). Statistical analysis included the following tests: Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, chi-square test or Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni correction, simple Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's correlation. Finally, we constructed a multivariate logistic regression model. The level of significance was 5% (p<0.05). Results: We assessed 487 users. 82.3% were female and 50.5% were elders. The prevalence of misreporting of dietary intakes was 12.7% - 11.9% underreporting and 0.8% overreporting. Multivariate analysis showed independent associations between underreporting and adult age (OR=0.22; 95% CI: 0.11;0.46); presence of dyslipidemia (OR=3.39; 95% CI: 1.73;6.67); satisfaction with body weight (OR=0.42; 95% CI: 0.19;0.89); very high waist circumference (OR=6.58; 95% CI: 2.95,14.66); proper meal frequency (OR=0.49; 95% CI: 0.25;0.98); daily per capita consumption of sugar (OR=0.98; 95% CI: 0.97;0.99); and daily per capita consumption of edible vegateble oil (OR=0.96; 95% CI: 0.92;0.99). Since the prevalence of underreporting was low, we chose not to assess its associated factors, as done in similar studies. Conclusion: Misreporting, especially underreporting, is a problem in this population, and is associated with health, diet and nutritional status. We highlight the need to implement strategies for improving dietary reporting accuracy, since misreporting may interfere with the assessment of dietary intakes.