Fruit intake and obesity Fruit and vegetables consumption and obesity in Brazil

Introduction: Obesity affects more than half of the adult population and correlates with the development of chronic and psychosocial diseases. The consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) is a protective factor for obesity, but their consumption is often below the recommendations. Objective: To identify the level of fruit consumption in human development cycles, as well as the data on the association of fruit consumption with excess weight in Brazil. Methods: A non-systematic literature review on the Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases for the period 2005 to 2015. A total of 23 studies were selected in the English and Portuguese languages, according to the study design and population group. Only cohorts and cross sections studies in Brazil were selected. Appropriate FV consumption was considered to be 400 g/day or a frequency of 5 servings/day (3 servings/day of fruits), and overweight was evaluated according to each age group and development cycle. Results: The average consumption for pregnant women was found to be 350 g/day; an inverse relationship was found between total fi bre consumption and gestational weight gain. The average consumption of FV for children and adolescents has remained between 30% and 40%, consumption falling with increasing age. Vigitel data between 2006 and 2014 shows an increase in the prevalence of adequate consumption of FV for adults and seniors according to gender, age and education. Appropriate consumption tripled during this period. There was an association between fruit consumption and weight loss, increased risk of obesity, abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and presence of metabolic syndrome (SM). Conclusions: The prevalence of adequate consumption of FV is low in all regions of Brazil and among all age groups, the highest prevalence is among women and increases with the advance of age, higher education level and higher socioeconomic status. Adequate fruit consumption correlates to weight loss and/or weight gain control of individuals