Temporal trend of food intake markers among adults recorded on the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System, Brazil: time series analysis.

Objectives: To analyze the temporal trend of food intake markers of adults recorded on the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System in Brazil and its macro-regions in the period 2015-2019 and to compare food intake from 2015-2019 with that from 2020-2023.

Methods: This is a time series analysis study, based on secondary data of adults (20-59 years old) held on the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System online platform, referring to the period 2015-2019, and a comparative study of the periods 2015-2019 and 2020-2023, analyzing Brazil and its five macro-regions. Prevalence of food intake (healthy or unhealthy) on the previous day was verified. Intake of beans, fresh fruit, vegetables and legumes was considered healthy behavior; while intake of hamburgers and sausages, sweetened beverages, instant noodles, packaged snacks or savory biscuits, and intake of stuffed cookies, sweets or treats was considered unhealthy behavior. Temporal trends were estimated by percentage change in the period and a Prais-Winsten regression model.

Results: The records of 7,549,781 adults were analyzed. In Brazil as a whole, a temporal trend of growth in intake of hamburgers and sausages (4.5%) and fresh fruit (1.4%) and a reduction in sweetened beverages (-1.2%) was found. The comparison, made between the periods 2015-2019 and 2020-2023, pointed to possible changes in food intake due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase in intake of hamburgers and sausages (18.8%) and instant noodles (5.8%).

Conclusion: There was an increase in intake of unhealthy foods by the Brazilian adult population, with regional disparities and impacted by the pandemic.