Abstract:

Introduction: The main factors associated with overweight in children are poor diet, low physical activity and the early introduction of processed foods in their diet. Poor diet is mainly associated with high consumption of industrialized foods and low consumption of fruits and vegetables. Objective: To identify the influence of processed food consumption on the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive quantitative research, carried out with 25 children aged 6 to 12 years and their respective parents from a private school in the city of Campo Grande-MS in 2022. A self-administered questionnaire was prepared for parents, in which they answered about their child's diet and sociodemographic data. Results: It was observed that 40% of the children were eutrophic and 52% were overweight. Regarding food consumption, it was observed that 40% did not consume vegetables and 32% did not consume vegetables. With regard to the consumption of processed foods, 32% consumed sweets on a daily basis and 64% consumed "petit suisse" type yogurt on a weekly basis. Discussion: Other studies show that overweight and obesity affect more than 20% of children in Brazilian cities. Conclusion: The results of the studies pointed out that overweight is an increasingly frequent problem in children and that the high consumption of processed foods and lower consumption of vegetables and greens are correlated with this condition.

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