Effectiveness of nutritional intervention in overweight women in Primary Health Care

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of nutritional intervention in overweight women undergoing Primary Health Care.Methods: An intervention study was conducted with overweight adult and elderly women aged 20 years or older (body mass index ≥25.0 kg/m² and ≥27.0 kg/m², respectively) who were subjected to 12 months of individual nutritional monitoring. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed by dietary, health, and anthropometric indicators.Results: Most of the 71 individuals were adults with a low income and poor level of education. After the intervention, there was an increase in number of meals and in the frequency of breakfasting. Moreover, there were more fruits and vegetables consumed, in addition to a decrease in household availability of salt, sugar, oil, and fried foods consumption. An improvement in health and weight self-perception was observed, as well as a decrease in body mass and abdominal adiposity, in particular among those participating in several consultations (n >9).Conclusion: The proposed nutritional intervention was effective and viable for improving the care of overweight individuals and those suffering from destabilized comorbidities, and may be extended to other contexts.