Relationship between screen time and consumption of ultra-processed foods in pregnant women treated in Primary Health Care.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between screen time and the frequency of consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) in overweight pregnant women. This was a cross-sectional study that used baseline data from a randomized clinical trial conducted in the Primary Health Care (PHC) network of a Brazilian municipality between 2018 and 2021. Data from the Food Consumption Markers form were used. Daily screen time (ST) was measured based on the number of minutes spent watching television and using electronic devices during free time. Logistic regression models, adjusted for variables selected by the Directed Acyclic Graph, were used. The median (P25; P75) maternal age was 27 years (23; 32) and the pre-gestational BMI was 27.2 kg/m² (26.1; 28.3). Among pregnant women, 59.4% had some type of paid work and 62.1% belonged to economic stratum C. Pregnant women with a total ST >240 minutes/day were more likely to consume UPF on three or more days of the week. A direct relationship was observed between longer use of electronic devices and higher frequency of UPF consumption. Pregnant women with higher total ST and ST of electronic devices were more likely to have a high frequency of consumption of UPF.