Özet:

Introduction: The nutritional transition shows an alarming increase of overweight children in the world. This change has been associated with an increase in the intake of ultra-processed foods and a decrease in the intake of natural foods. Objective: To assess the food consumption of school-age and pre-school children and their nutritional status. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study with descriptive analysis with a quantitative approach developed with 46 students (2 to 10 years old) from a private school in a city in Minas Gerais. A food consumption questionnaire was applied and weight and height collection for BMI were collected, in addition to the information about the caretaker. For statistical analysis, the t test was used, followed by the Newman Keyls multiple comparison factor. Results and discussion: In the sample, the prevalence of overweight children was 30.4%. In the assessment of food consumption, 95.0% of children had inadequate consumption of sweets, 4.5 times higher than recommended. Greater weight was related to lower consumption of fruits and vegetables and higher intake of sweets and treats. A lower level of education of the caretaker was also related to a higher consumption of sweets and treats. Conclusion: This study shows inadequate nutritional status in 34.8% of children and improper eating habits. The importance of carrying out nutritional education activities in schools is emphasized, since a poor diet may damage children's health and development.

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