Padrões alimentares de mulheres em idade reprodutiva: realidade na Zona da Mata nordestina

Objective: To analyze eating patterns and associated factors in women of reproductive age. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 322 women aged 12 to 49 years old, residing in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco's Zona da Mata, Brazil, through active household survey. Census sectors were drawn in a simple and random manner, covering the health units belonging to the Family Health Strategy. The Eating Frequency Questionnaire allowed identifying eating patterns, categorized into low consumption, 1st and 2nd terciles, and high consumption, higher tercile. The independent variables analyzed were sociodemographic, lifestyle and health. Results: Within the studied group, 59.3% of the women were aged between 20 and 39 years old, and 60.9% had excessive weight. Three eating patterns were observed: Healthy, Brazilian-Typical Common, and Fast-Food. Women aged ≥ 40 years old consumed approximately three times more food of the Healthy pattern compared to those aged ≤ 19 years old. On the other hand, those aged ≥ 40 were less likely to consume foods of the Fast-Food pattern than the younger ones were (≤ 19 years old). Moreover, women with more than eight years of education were more likely to consume foods of the Fast-Food pattern compared to those with ≤ 4 years of education. Conclusions: Younger and better educated women presented a high consumption of foods characterizing the Fast-Food eating pattern compared to older and less educated ones, respectively.