title: Dietary patterns of young adolescents in urban areas of northeast Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Temporal trends in dietary patterns reveal associations between food consumption and increased prevalence of non-communicable chronic disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study characterized dietary patterns in adolescents in urban area located in northeast of Brazil, relating it to the markers of a healthy diet.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study used two 24-hour recalls to assess dietary intake in 430 public school students from Natal-RN, Brazil. Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns according to consumption of food based on weight (grams), energy (Kcal), or fiber (grams). The analysis results yielded 3 distinct principal components: 7, 8, and 4 (cumulative variance >70%; factor loadings >0.4). The association between independent variables and the factor scores of all components obtained was determined by the Prevalence Ratio (CI 95%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The dietary patterns derived were: (1) Pure Traditional Food System, the highly representative pattern in young adolescents and the first component of the analytical models, (2) Combined and Risk Food System; extraction of total food weight and energy revealed markers of unhealthy diets based on high sugar, saturated fat, and salt consumption, and (3) Modified Traditional Food System represented by fiber; pattern 1 was observed within this model too. The associations observed, predominantly from the TFSm pattern, distinguished by sex, age and nutritional status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patterns 1 and 3 are characterized by preserved regional food practices that prevent chronic disease, whereas pattern 2 is characterized by health risks. These inter-sectorial findings should be considered in the development of health care policies for children and adolescents.
authors: Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil.. lpedrosa@supercabo.com.br.
authors: Célia Márcia Medeiros
authors: CM
authors: de Morais
authors: Department of Nutrition. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil..
authors: Liana Galvão Bacurau
authors: LG
authors: Pinheiro
authors: Department of Nutrition. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil..
authors: Severina Carla Vieira Cunha
authors: SC
authors: Lima
authors: Department of Nutrition. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil..
authors: Clelia Oliveira
authors: CO
authors: Lyra
authors: Department of Nutrition. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil..
authors: Karine Cavalcanti Mauricio
authors: KC
authors: de Sena Evangelista
authors: Postgraduate Program in Public Health. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil..
authors: Kenio Costa
authors: KC
authors: Lima
authors: Department of Nutrition. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Natal. Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil.. lpedrosa@supercabo.com.br.
authors: Lucia Fatima Campos
authors: LF
authors: Pedrosa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult