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Social expectations of body image can generate negative body feelings, exacerbate compensatory behaviors and discourage healthy food choices. This study examined the food choices and perceptions of adult consumers dissatisfied with their body image about food products available in the “healthy foods” section of a Brazilian supermarket.

Exploratory, descriptive and qualitative study. Body image dissatisfaction was assessed with the self-reported silhouette scale validated for the Brazilian population. Chosen items were classified according with degree of processing. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 26 men and women and transcribed and thematically analyzed.

Participants chose 81 food products, most of which (53%) were ultra-processed. Thematic analysis revealed that participants were motivated mainly by consumption habits, preference, convenience and brand loyalty. Participants questioned the concept of health promoted by the supermarket and suggested that the kind of food items available in “healthy foods section” may confuse consumers about the healthfulness of packaged processed foods (PF). Despite being critical of the concept of healthfulness promoted by the supermarket, participants predominantly selected ultra-processed foods (UPF) mentioning health-related motivations for their selection, revealing a realm of contradictions. The results indicate that, for individuals dissatisfied with their body image due to overweight and with emotional eating behavior, the environment of the healthy foods section of supermarkets is not conducive to healthy food shopping.

Qualitative approach can bring results which add to the body of evidence on the importance of the food environment's influence on food choices, especially of individuals prone to making poor choices for the sake of improving their perceived body image.

The study aims to explore how young adults perceive cooking contents on social media and their interaction with it.

Qualitative study using semi structured interviews with Brazilian young adults who cook (19–24 years old, n = 31) was the method employed. Interview audio recordings were transcribed and submitted to inductive and reflexive thematic analysis.

Data analysis generated six different themes. Young adults valued the profiles’ aesthetics and quality in terms of straightforwardness, trustworthiness, novelty and authenticity of information; they also identified with the profiles’ authors. When pressed for time, aesthetics was less valued than straightforwardness. Participants felt overwhelmed by the excessive information on social media and developed coping strategies to deal with this issue.

The lack of cooking and food skills is a recognized barrier for healthy eating in the young adult population. Social media can play a prominent role in delivering cooking-related information to the younger generation, but research on people’s perceptions of the cooking content available online is scarce and does not focus on how actual engagement with the available content happens. This qualitative exploration revealed which features young adults prefer when using social media to access cooking content, which can inform future interventions to promote cooking and improve health.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of different menu labelling formats on healthy food choices in a real restaurant setting.

This cross-sectional, randomised and controlled parallel-group trial was conducted in Brazil in 2013. In total, 313 university students were randomly assigned to one of three parallel groups with different menu labelling formats. Of these, data from 233 students were analysed. The others did not attend and were excluded. Intervention Group 1 (n=88) received information in the form of a traffic light plus guideline daily amounts, while Intervention Group 2 (n=74) was presented with ingredients list plus highlighted symbols (IL+S). The control group (n=71) received a menu with no menu labelling. Data were collected on one weekday in a restaurant setting. Trial outcomes were assessed by healthy food choices.

Healthy food choices of students who received the menu showing IL+S were significantly higher when compared to the other groups. This same menu labelling format positively affected healthy food choices in women, not overweight participants and in participants who often ate out more than twice a week.

Menu labelling format presenting ingredients list and highlighted symbols was positively associated with healthy food choices among the university students in Brazil. This type of labelling could be adopted in future legislation on menu labelling in Brazil and around the world.

The purpose of this paper is to present a first proposal of a healthy dietary diversity index to evaluate meals in self-service restaurants.

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study in a Brazilian buffet-style restaurant. The study group was selected by systematic sampling and consisted of 678 individuals aged 16-81 years, who were regular diners at a selected restaurant during lunchtime. Photographs were used to assess food choices and a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to the subjects. A healthy dietary diversity model was created following WHO recommendations and the Brazilian Food Guide. A consensus workshop was conducted with experts to discuss and classify certain dishes as more or less healthy (high/low energy density). The model attributed negative (−3.0-0.0) and positive (0.0-12.0) scores to different food groups. Higher scores meant greater diversity on the plate, and therefore a greater chance of a healthy meal (=9.0), while a lower score reflected a higher variety of energy-dense foods, such as fried dishes (=6.0).

Most diner’s plates (65.3 per cent) obtained low diversity score indexes (=6) and were considered inadequate, represented the dishes where intake should be controlled from a nutritional viewpoint (over caloric meal). There was a significant association between healthy diversity scores (=9.0) and low variety of high energy density dishes on the plates.

This method of assessing the healthy dietary diversity of a main meal could be tested as an innovative model for investigating the food choices of individuals who eat away from home.

The purpose of this paper is to identify food products being developed with the addition of the prebiotic inulin (a soluble, fermentable dietary fibre that stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon), in order to determine how its addition modifies their probiotic, physicochemical and sensory characteristics.

The paper's approach is a systematic review of the Web of Science, Medline/Pubmed and Scielo‐Br electronic databases, from 2001 to 2011. Of the 256 abstracts initially retrieved, those reporting development of products containing inulin were included, while those regarding literature review, clinical investigations, inulin extraction and effects on the human body were excluded. Full papers of all the 28 studies identified as relevant to the aims of the review were then obtained.

Inulin quantities added to products varied from 1 to 32 per cent. Products containing inulin had improved microorganism counts and received either equal or better scores in sensory analysis tests. pH and colour of high fat content products were not significantly altered by inulin addition. Texture profile of high protein and carbohydrate content products was irregularly altered by inulin addition. Food composition was found to determine the necessary amount of inulin to induce the desired changes. Highest added quantities were observed in the group of products with high carbohydrate content.

The paper presents a compilation of information regarding inulin percentage needed to alter physicochemical and sensory characteristics of products with different protein, fat and carbohydrate content.

This study explored how Brazilian young adults who cook interact with cooking-related content on social media and how such content fits their cooking routine.

Semi-structured interviews (n = 31) were transcribed, inductively and reflexively thematic analysed.

Interactions happened both in recreational and intentional ways, which coexisted and alternated depending on participants' motives and schedules. Recreational interactions such as browsing and saving happened more for self-entertainment and to some participants, to help meal planning and food shopping. Intentional interactions such as searching and sharing happened to fulfil specific needs which arised on cooking occasions, leading to agency development. Young adults who self-identified as being less experienced in cooking reported checking and comparing many recipes, as well as relying on video features to improve skills and develop self-efficacy. Despite showing agency in cooking-related matters, participants perceived lack of time to cook as an important barrier to cooking more. Intentional interactions with cooking content were linked to more established cooking routines, indicating the importance of social media to young adults' development of self-efficacy and improvement of skills.

The use of social media to search for cooking-related content is recommended by Brazilian dietary guidelines to develop cooking and food skills, but research on if and how the interaction occurs, and the resulting knowledge is put into practice, is scarce. This study addressed this gap and proposed practical implications to inform the development of interventions employing social media to improve young adults' cooking skills and health.

Qualitatively ascertain perceptions of parents regarding their children's influence on family food purchases. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Content analysis of the transcripts of 31 semi-structured interviews conducted with parents of students from public and private institutions in Brazil. The public school provided meals supplied by the National School Feeding Program, and discouraged the consumption of foods brought from home. The private school did not receive any governmental subsidies for school feeding, and students were responsible for bringing their own school snacks.

Parents perceived children's influence especially of energy-dense nutrient-poor food purchases. Parents from the public school students, with lower income and educational levels, showed greater concern with quality and frequency with which requested foods were made available to the child. Only the parents from the private school students mentioned perceiving peer influence over their children's requests.

Results enabled an overview of the main factors that influence children's purchase requests as perceived by parents. School environment seemed to influence requests, reinforcing the need for strategies similar to those present in the public school to be employed in private schools, where government programs that encourage healthy eating are not in place.

Qualitative study conducted with parents of Brazilian school children found that those with lower income and educational level were actually more concerned about their children's eating habits and perceived less peer influence over their children's requests for foods. Initiatives in the public school environment that effectively reduced access to certain kinds of foods in favor of healthier food choices reinforced the school's role as a health promoter for students and also their families.

A gluten-free diet is the only possible treatment for coeliac disease, but studies about the nutritional content of gluten-free products and coeliac individual's diet quality are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the availability, price, and nutritional composition of gluten-free products in retail stores of a Brazilian capital city.

All retail stores listed by the Brazilian Coeliac Association as gluten-free product selling places in the city of Florianópolis were visited. All available products were catalogued and their labels analysed for nutritional content. Similar gluten-containing products were systematically selected in order to allow comparisons. t-test, analyses of covariance, and cluster analysis were performed, all considering a 5 per cent significance level.

Availability and variety of gluten-free products was limited and prices were high. Cluster analysis found similarities in the nutritional content of gluten-free and conventional food products, suggesting that although raw materials different than wheat were being employed, the composition patterns are the same. Certain advantages in the composition of gluten-free products were observed, regarding mainly calories and sodium, however, protein and dietary fibre values were inferior.

Results observed may negatively impact diet adherence and stimulate the intake of conventional products with harmful consequences to the quality of life and health of coeliac individuals.

This paper conducted a careful evaluation of nutrition composition of gluten-free products from different categories, available in retail stores, which is rare in researches on this topic. Moreover, results call attention to the need of better care in product formulation and dietary guidance for coeliac individuals.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate television viewing habits of children from low-income families, their consumption of fruits, vegetables and snacks, as well as their spending habits.

11 focus groups were conducted with 54 public school students aged seven to ten years, divided by sex and age. Transcription of the discussions was processed by content analysis. Family income was indirectly assessed through classification of parents' occupations.

The habit of watching television was very present in the students' routines, as was eating in front of the television set. Eating fruits and vegetables was a habit, but frequent consumption of snack foods was also reported. Students had money of their own to spend independently and did it mostly on snacks. Parental interference over their habits was not perceived by the students. Television watching was a regular activity not only for the children, but also for their families. Even though research design could not establish a causal relationship, consumption and acquisition of unhealthy food items was routine, as well as watching television.

Results are of local nature and findings may differ from those of other regions or countries. Also, students were conveniently selected, and as volunteers they may have been more likely to have an interest in matters related to nutrition, or could have misreported their eating behaviours to be more socially desirable than they actually were.

Qualitative investigation regarding television viewing habits, food choices and purchases of Brazilian low-income children.

The purpose of the paper is to determine the effects of a hypocaloric diet with a low-glycaemic index (GI) on weight loss and postprandial blood glucose and assess both the satiety and palatability of the diet.

A clinical trial was conducted with ten women (mean age: 38.8±11.3 years; body mass index: 27.2±3.5 kg/m2) submitted to a hypocaloric diet, assessments were performed at baseline and after seven days of treatment.

Significant reductions were found in body weight (1.1±0.7 kg; p=0.001), triccipital skinfold (2.87±3.24 mm; p=0.021) and waist circumference (3.6±4.8 cm; p=0.041). Mean fasting and postprandial blood glucose values were 88.7±6.1 mg/dL and 91.6±9.6 mg/dL, respectively. Responses regarding satiety and palatability of the low-GI diet were predominantly “extremely satisfied” and “I liked it very much,” respectively, for all meals and throughout all seven days of the study.

The present study demonstrated the benefits of a low-GI diet with regard to weight loss, blood glucose control and satiety. The diet proved to be palatable, which could favor compliance with long-term treatment.