Caracterização de novos praticantes de ciclismo durante a pandemia no estado do Rio Grande do Norte: perfil sócio-demográfico, estado nutricional, hábitos e comportamentos alimentares

Abstract

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the practice of cycling had a large growth because it represents a means of seeking social isolation, improving eating behaviors and promoting better physical and cognitive health. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the nutritional and anthropometric status, habits, frequency and eating behaviors of new cycling practitioners before and during the pandemic. The collection took place in the “Snowball” format, from June to October 2022 and used an online self-administered questionnaire on the profile of the target audience regarding the practice of cycling, eating habits, food frequency questionnaire and eating behavior, using the TFEQ R21. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS v. 21.0. The study included 97 cyclists who reported having started the practice in the pandemic period, mostly men (57%), comprising the age group between 30 and 39 years. There was a reduction in the frequency of obesity from 28.9% to 19.6% and an increase in eutrophy from 30.9% to 42.3% before and after, respectively. And changes in eating habits with increased consumption of whole grains, fruits and vegetables associated with a reduction in ultra-processed foods. An eating behavior of cognitive restriction was evidenced by a large part of the population. Despite the difficult time and numerous restrictions, having started cycling during the pandemic brought benefits to the RN population compared to the period before, resulted in the improvement in anthropometric parameters and eating habits, mainly. Furthermore, there was a cognitive restriction on the part of the individuals.