Publications by authors named "Patricia P de Freitas"

This study evaluates the maintenance of a clinically meaningful weight loss (≥ 5 %) after 12 and 36 months of participation in an intervention to promote fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. A randomised controlled trial was conducted in a primary health care service. For 7 months, participants in the control group (CG) and in the intervention group (IG) performed guided physical exercise three times/week; the IG also participated in collective activities to promote FV consumption.

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Background: Obesity is a chronic disease characterized by excess body fat and is a risk factor for other chronic non-communicable diseases. Its multifactorial and complex nature makes its management a challenge for health services. This manuscript presents an investigation protocol that aims to analyze the effectiveness of collective nutritional interventions for obesity management applicable to primary health care.

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Objective: Evaluate the 5-year changes in the consumers' food environment in the area of a health promotion service in Brazilian primary health care. Our hypothesis is that the consumers' food environment in the areas with primary healthcare services has changes that may favour healthy eating habits over time.

Design: Longitudinal study.

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Background: Changes in food environments have the potential to affect consumption, nutritional status, and health, and understanding these changes is of utmost importance. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the fluctuation of food stores that sell fruits and vegetables over five years in the health promotion service area of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: This was an ecological study that used data from a food environment audit conducted in the realm of Brazilian PHC.

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Objectives: This study evaluates, in the medium and long term (12, 36, and 48 mo), the effect of an intervention to promote consumption of fruit and vegetables on the body weight of Brazilian primary health care users.

Methods: A follow-up with participants (n = 3414) in a controlled randomized trial was performed in a primary health care service. Those in the control group performed the service's usual intervention (guided physical exercise 3 times/wk), and those in the intervention group additionally participated for 7 mo in collective activities to promote consumption of fruit and vegetables.

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Objective: Describing the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and their association with the nutritional profiles among users of a health promotion service in a Brazilian city.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Public health promotion service of Primary Health Care in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

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Background: Given the current worldwide epidemic of obesity, there is a demand for interventions with higher impact, such as those carried out in the primary health care (PHC) setting. Here we evaluate the effect of intervention performed according to the stages of change of the transtheoretical model (TTM) for weight management.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial in Brazilian PHC offered free physical exercise and nutrition education.

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Objectives: Obesity has been identified as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. However, dietary treatment of obesity is far from being a closed issue. Therefore, it is critical to identify the most appropriate obesity management approaches.

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between aspects of the consumer food environment in food stores selling fruit and vegetables (FVs) and the incidence of overweight among users of a Brazilian primary health care service.

Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed individual-level and food environment variables, within the context of a representative sample of a primary health care service in a Brazilian city (the Health Academy Program [HAP]) in 2013. Users of HAP units and multiple aspects of the consumer food environment (availability, diversity, variety, quality, advertising, and price) related to FVs and ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) were examined.

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