OBJECTIVE: To evaluate markers of food intake of the telephone-based risk factor surveillance system for chronic diseases (VIGITEL) and the trend of these markers. METHODS: A total of 135,249 subjects from 27 Brazilian cities interviewed in the 2007 - 2009 surveys were evaluated. Eating habits were evaluated based on the frequency of intake of fruit, vegetables, beans, whole and skim milk, regular and diet/light soft drinks and visible fat in meat and poultry. These items were used to create a diet quality score and to identify dietary patterns in a cluster analysis. RESULTS: Time trends indicated statistically significant increase in the frequency of intake of beans, whole milk and regular soft drinks and decline in vegetables and skim milk. There was an increase in the frequency of individuals who reported consuming beans daily, from 11 to 13%. Beans are considered as a protective factor and the prevalence of usual intake is still low. Over the past three years, less than 15% of the studied population reported eating the Brazilian recommended number of 3 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables per day. As to the vegetable intake, a decrease from 5 to 3% was reported. The consumption of regular soft drinks had the highest increase, ranging from 60 to 67%. The assessed items showed a weak correlation and did not represent a sole healthy eating construct. CONCLUSION: The diet quality of the Brazilians has gotten worst and eating markers that are associated with high risk of chronic diseases should be better qualified.
food habits; feeding behavior; data collection; Brazil
