Brazilian Community Restaurants’ Low-Income Food Handlers: Association between the Nutritional Status and the Presence of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases

Ingrid C. Fideles, Rita de Cassia Coelho de Almeida Akutsu, Priscila R. F. Costa, Jamacy Costa-Souza, Raquel Braz Assunção Botelho and Renata Puppin Zandonadi
Additional contact information
Ingrid C. Fideles: Department of Food Science, School of Nutrition, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40110-150, Brazil
Rita de Cassia Coelho de Almeida Akutsu: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70910-900, Brazil
Priscila R. F. Costa: Department of Food Science, School of Nutrition, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40110-150, Brazil
Jamacy Costa-Souza: Department of Food Science, School of Nutrition, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40110-150, Brazil
Raquel Braz Assunção Botelho: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70910-900, Brazil
Renata Puppin Zandonadi: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70910-900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: This cross-sectional study aimed primarily to determine the association between the nutritional status and the presence of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) among community restaurants’ food handlers, since their access to food can influence their body mass index (BMI). The study discusses the socio-demographic status of participants, dietary intake, the prevalence of overweightness/obesity, and self-reported diagnosed NCDs. In 36 Community Restaurants (CRs) from all of the Brazilian regions, we collected data from 559 food handlers. We used a questionnaire to collect socio-demographic data and the reported diagnosed chronic diseases. For the anthropometric evaluation with Body Mass Index calculation, we measured the weight and the height of the individuals. They were all weighed before having lunch at the CR, without shoes and coats. Associations between variables were analyzed by the chi-square test and Poisson regression at a significance level of 5%, considering health as the outcome variable. Most of the food handlers were female (63.1%), married or with a partner (51.7%), and overweight (59.9%). Among the food handlers that presented diagnosed NCDs (n = 96, 17.2% of food handlers), 45.8% (n = 44) presented hypertension and 12.5% (n = 12) type 2 diabetes mellitus. There was a significant association between BMI and NCD status in the studied population. The total daily sodium intake of food handlers was higher than the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), especially from the CR lunch, which may raise the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension (the most prevalent non-communicable disease found in our study). Despite that, in general, the CRs provide access to cheap and adequate meals to their workers, considering energy intake and the proportion of macronutrients. In this population, overweightness and obesity were prevalent; there was an association of obesity with chronic disease in the study population. Therefore, it is necessary for better menu planning for CRs to guarantee sodium reduction throughout time.

Keywords: work environment; non-communicable diseases; community restaurants; low income; food access (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3467/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3467/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3467-:d:349787

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().