Alimentação e estilos de vida da porpulação portuguesa: metodologia e resultados preliminares

Abstract

The influence of lifestyles on the incidence and prevalence of non-transmissible chronic diseases justifies the importance of studying these factors and their relations, in order to plan more efficient health promotionstrategies. The information about portugueses' food consumption is limited to certain population groups and a representative sample of the portuguese population including the autonomous regions of Açores and Madeira has never been studied. Social, political and economical changes that occured in the last years call for an update of the knowledge on the portuguese population's lifestyles.In this publication the methodological issues of the first phase of the study Portuguese Population's Food Habits and Lifestyles are presented, as well as the preliminary results which characterize the adult population.This study was designed and promoted by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação with the support of Nestlé, within a protocol of scientific sponsorship between the two institutions.The aim of the study was to evaluate the nutritional status, food consumption, physical activity levels and other lifestyles' dimensions of the portuguese population.