Changes in food consumption among the Programa Bolsa Família participant families in Brazil

• Published in: Public health nutrition Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 785 - 792
• Main Authors: de Bem Lignani, Juliana, Sichieri, Rosely, Burlandy, Luciene, Salles-Costa, Rosana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2011; CABI Pub. on behalf of the Nutrition Society
• Subjects: beans; Brazil; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dairies; Data collection; Diet - economics; Diet - statistics & numerical data; Diet - trends; federal government; Female; Flour; food choices; food consumption; food groups; food intake; Food security; Food Supply - economics; Food Supply - statistics & numerical data; grains; Health Behavior; healthy diet; Households; Humans; income; interviews; issues and policy; Male; Meat; milk; Monitoring and surveillance; National Health Programs; Nutrition; Participation; Poverty; Processed foods; Program Evaluation; Public Assistance; Public policy; purchasing; Qualitative research; questionnaires; Registries; relative risk; Self report; Socioeconomic Factors; soft drinks; Sugar; sugars; Surveys and Questionnaires; Brazil; United States > US; Food groups; Population studies; Food insecurity; Food intake; Conditional cash transfer
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S136898001000279X

Objective To analyse changes and predictors of change in self-reported food intake among Brazilian families that benefitted from conditional cash transfer (CCT) implemented in the Programa Bolsa Família of the Brazilian Federal Government. Design A cross-sectional survey. Setting The study was conducted from September to October 2007 in a nationwide representative household sample of families included in the CCT. Socio-economic variables, perception of food consumption and food insecurity were evaluated via questionnaire, which was completed during face-to-face interviews. Subjects Five thousand households were selected from the CCT registry. Results Families reported increased consumption of all food groups analysed, mainly cereals, processed foods, meat, milk and dairy, beans and sugar. The degree of dependence on income from the CCT was positively associated with increased self-reported intake of food items such as sugar and soft drinks. A Poisson regression revealed that the fourth quartile of CCT dependence demonstrated a twofold increase in the self-reported intake of soft drinks (relative risk (RR) = 2·3, 95 % CI 1·8, 2·9) and sugar (RR = 2·5, 95 % CI 2·1, 3·1) compared with the first quartile of CCT dependence. Conclusions Greater purchasing power of poor families increases unhealthy food choices; thus public policies should emphasise the availability of healthy food.