Abstract:

Introduction: the habit of eating healthy foods from early childhood is fundamental in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases. Objective: to describe the consumption of carbohydrates and sugars by infants in the city of João Pessoa. Materials and Methods: cross-sectional study conducted with secondary data from the Ministry of Health's Food and Nutrition Surveillance Information System (SISVAN). The variables analyzed were, consumption of instant noodles, packaged snacks, or crackers; consumption of hamburger and / or sausages consumption of sweetened drinks; and consumption of stuffed biscuits, sweets or treats. The inclusion criteria were, data referring to the years 2015 to 2017, children aged 6 to 24 months, of both sexes and living in the city of João Pessoa-PB. Results: in the period from 2015 to 2017 the samples were 245, 360 and 88 children, respectively, in the SISVAN report. In 2015, the consumption of the food under analysis varied from 15% to 25%. In 2016, there was a significant increase in the consumption of carbohydrates and sugars reaching 48%, while in 2017 there was a decline in the consumption of these foods, varying between 7% to 18%. Conclusions: the decrease in the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates in 2017, is due to the expansion of infants enrolled in daycare centers, expanding access to healthy food. However, previously eaten foods can still have an impact on the health of these individuals, causing consequences such as the development of nutritional and metabolic diseases in the short or long term. Changing eating habits needs to be continuous and long-term.

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