Alimentação, gasto energético, nível de atividade física e estado nutricional de trabalhadores industriais

Abstract

This study aimed was to investigate the energy intake and nutritional composition of meals consumed at work and to associate them with the energy expenditure, level of physical activity, nutritional status, and daily diet quality of manufacturing-plant workers. A total of 292 workers, 224 males and 68 females, participated in the study, 87 from the administrative and 205 from the production sectors of companies enrolled in the Workers’ Food Program (PAT). Sociodemographic, anthropometric, energy expenditure, level of physical activity, food intake at work, and daily dietary pattern data were collected. Statistical analysis included the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and correlation tests (Pearson, Spearman, and Mann-Whitney). Multivariate statistical methods were used, specifically principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Overweight workers prevailed, and daily energy expenditure differed by gender and work sector (p<0.05). Male workers were considered physically active (17.8%) or very active (50.7%). Overweight prevalence in women (61.2%) and administrative workers (57.5%) was related to low physical activity or inactivity. Energy intake at work was appropriate, but the intakes of protein and sodium were high. Considering the workers’ gender and work sector, the mean energy intake of 1135 kcal (± 245) did not meet their requirements. The diet quality index of 254 workers (87%) was classified as “in need of improvement;” 33 workers (11.3%) had a good-quality diet, and 5 workers (1.7%) had a poor-quality diet. PCA showed that most individuals with high energy expenditure, high energy intake, and high lipid intake were males, and work sector was positively related to energy expenditure and level of physical activity. The food consumed at work may be adapted to the workers’ characteristics since work sector is positively related to energy expenditure and level of physical activity. Protein and sodium contents of the meals provided by food services enrolled in the WFP need improvement. There was no evidence that the food consumed at work influenced the considerable incidence of overweight and obesity in manufacturing-plant workers.