Adherence to dietary practices recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population among people with obesity: baseline of a community trial carried out at the Health Fitness Program in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2022-2023.

Objective: To analyze sociodemographic and health factors associated with high levels of adherence to dietary practices recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population among people with obesity taking part in the Health Fitness Program in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of Health Fitness Program participants with obesity who were ≥20 years old. Sociodemographic and health data were collected, and the adherence to the Dietary Guidelines scale was assessed, classified as: low (<32 points), medium (32-41 points) and high (>41 points). Multivariate logistic regression was performed.

Results: In all, 1,109 individuals participated, the majority of whom were women (92.5%) and had at least one chronic disease (85.8%). The majority self-rated their health status as very good/good (62.2%), 62.8% had hypertension and 68.0% had Class 1 Obesity. 46.0% had good levels of adherence to the Dietary Guidelines. After adjustment, high levels of adherence were associated with being elderly (odds ratio [OR] 1.47; 95%CI 1.1; 2.0), having higher income (OR 0.58; 95%CI 0.41; 0.81) and better self-rated health (regular: OR 0.73; 95%CI 0.55; 0.96; poor/very poor: OR 0.26; 95%CI 0.13; 0.52).

Conclusion: High levels of adherence to the Dietary Guidelines were associated with stage of life, better income and positive self-rated health, highlighting the need to target efforts towards adults and vulnerable groups.