This diploma thesis deals with fiber intake and possibilities of its increase. The main aim of the thesis is to evaluate the actual intake of fiber in the population and to find out whether people actually know what fiber is and what should be its daily intake. The theoretical part is focused on fiber itself. It describes its characteristics, distribution, properties and sources. The effect of fiber on human health and the consequences of insufficient or excessive fiber intake are discussed as well. The practical part is focused on the real intake of fiber in the population. It is done in the form of a questionnaire survey, in which I try to find out what knowledge of fiber people have, but also how often they consume foods containing fiber. Most of the questionnaires were handed out to customers of one unnamed pharmacy and healthy nutrition center in Prague and other passers-by. Altogether, I managed to collect 84 questionnaires. The questionnaire results show that vast majority of respondents have an idea of what fiber is and which foods contain it most; however, they do not know what the recommended daily intake is. Still, half of the respondents think their diet includes enough fiber. The fiber intake in men and women was not much different. The most significant difference was in the...

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:58:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SAMANTA_WINCK_MADRUGA_dissertacao.pdf: 758831 bytes, checksum: 861d7f5231fc60c8a7680294bd36e0d6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-11-10 / OBJECTIVE: To verify the prevalence of inadequate dietary fiber consumption habit and evaluate its association with socioeconomic, demographic and behavioral characteristics. DESIGN: A cross-sectional population-based study. SETTINGS: Pelotas-RS. The city holds nearly 320.000 inhabitants and is located in Southern Brazilian. SUBJECTS: A representative sample of the population was selected by a two-stage strategy; 3993 subjects (≥ 10 years) were interviewed. RESULTS: Sample was mostly female, white skin color and nearly 70% belonged to C socioeconomic level or lower. Inadequate dietary fiber consumption habit was positive for 65.6% (CI95% 64.2 67.1) of the sample. A higher prevalence was observed among men and teenagers. Adjusted analysis for the overall sample showed an association between inadequate fiber consumption habit and male, adolescents, lower socioeconomic level, current smoker, sufficiently active and people having under four daily meals. The age group-stratified analysis showed different associated factors. For the adolescents group, living alone was a risk factor to inadequate dietary fiber consumption, for the adults group sex (male), current smoker, sufficiently active and under four daily meals and, among the elderly just sex (male) and current smoker. Lower socioeconomic level was associated to the outcome in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate fiber consumption habit is highly prevalent in the population. We must highlight that, although inadequate intake is very common, teenagers are at a higher risk, suggesting public health actions focusing this particular age group. Public health initiatives to improve eating patterns, concerning fiber consumption habits, must consider the contrast derived from associated factors. / O consumo diário de fibras faz parte do que se chama de uma dieta saudável . É um item alimentar importante na prevenção e controle de doenças crônicas tais como Diabete Mellitus, doenças do coração, colesterol e triglicerídeos elevados, além de ter papel fundamental no funcionamento do trânsito gastrointestinal prevenindo e tratando a prisão de ventre (constipação), complicação tão comum entre as pessoas atualmente. Além disso, um consumo ideal de fibras está cientificamente comprovado como fator auxiliar na perda de peso. O presente estudo investigou o hábito inadequado de consumo de fibras alimentares e seus fatores associados, na população de Pelotas-RS, como parte da dissertação de Mestrado em Epidemiologia pela Universidade Federal de Pelotas. A pesquisa ocorreu entre os meses de outubro e dezembro de 2005, quando 1507 domicílios de nossa cidade foram visitados. Desta forma, 3993 indivíduos com idade igual ou maior que 10 anos responderam ao questionário. A pesquisa mostrou que aproximadamente 65% da população não consome fibras alimentares adequadamente, sendo que os homens consomem menos alimentos ricos em fibras (71%) do que as mulheres (62%). A pesquisa mostra ainda que os adolescentes (10 - 19 anos) foram os que apresentaram maior percentual de hábito inadequado de consumo de fibras alimentares (78%) quando comparados aos adultos (64%) e aos idosos (55%). Os indivíduos de menor nível socioeconômico também 85 apresentaram maiores percentuais de consumo inadequado em relação aos níveis socioeconômicos mais altos. O trabalho ainda concluiu que fumar, ser sedentário, realizar menos de quatro refeições diárias e fazer refeições fora de casa, apresentam maiores riscos de consumir um dieta pobre em fibras alimentares. Sendo assim, recomenda-se que campanhas e programas de saúde pública sejam realizados no sentido de incentivar o consumo de alimentos ricos em fibras principalmente entre escolares e adolescentes pois existem evidências de que hábitos alimentares adquiridos na infância e adolescência podem ser precursores de hábitos saudáveis na vida adulta.