Consumo alimentar de mulheres encarceradas à luz do Guia Alimentar para População Brasileira

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In most of Brazil, prison meals are not well accepted, and contain inadequate levels of nutrients necessary for health maintenance. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the food consumption of women incarcerated in a closed regime, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional research, of a descriptive nature, developed with the totality of the women imprisoned in a closed regime, in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It consisted of interviews about the dietary changes that arose in the face of imprisonment, regarding the number of meals, quantity and variety of foods and general quality of food. There was also a 24-hour reminder with each of the prey detailing all meals. Food / preparations were organized into 4 categories (unprocessed or minimally processed, ingredients processed, processed, and ultraprocessed). RESULTS: It was verified that the participation of ultraprocessed foods was elevated during the day, representing 10 to 30% of the total food consumed during the day for the majority of the women. Processed consumption was also high, and for most participants, these foods accounted for 10-30% of their total daily consumption. Only 11.5% of the inmates diet was based on the consumption of unprocessed, minimally processed or processed food ingredients, corresponding to more than 80% of the total food consumed throughout the day. The daily participation of these last foods in women who had been in prison for more than 12 months was significantly lower than for the rest of the detainees. CONCLUSION: The diet of the women evaluated has high levels of processed and ultraprocessed foods; Low consumption of natural foods and low acceptance by the food supplied by the outsourced company, in addition to the reduced number of meals performed throughout the day, resulting in an unhealthy and little varied diet.