Abstract

FIGUEIREDO, Márcia Cançado et al. Evaluation of dietary patterns of slave descendants (quilombolas) of the Limoeiro de Bacupari Community, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. RFO UPF [online]. 2011, vol.16, n.2, pp. 130-135. ISSN 1413-4012.

Human nutrition, besides being a social and cultural action, is closely related with the individual and community health. Objective: the objective of this study is to evaluate the dietary pattern in a community of Quilombolas who live in a coastal region in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, correlating them with the prevalence of some chronic-degenerative diseases. Methodology: the work was accomplished during an interdisciplinary health task force in the Quilombola community of Limoeiro de Bacupari, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 83 people from the community answered questions related to their nutrition, health and socioeconomic conditions by means of a questionnaire. Result: it was observed that, the most prevalent nutrition type was the one that included rice, bread and pasta, besides beans, meat and nuts. After juices, water was the beverage they consumed the most. The nutrition frequency varied between three and four daily meals, where cookies were the most common snacks. 49.38% of people answered that there is someone in their home who has a chronic- degenerative disease. Conclusion: there is a lack of information regarding the adequate nutrition pattern, since the population has as base two divisions in the food pyramid. It is necessary to inform how important it is to have a balanced nutrition and what its lack or deficiency may cause in the organism, since chronicdegenerative diseases were observed in almost 50% of families in the quilombolas who were interviewed.

Keywords : Community Quilombola.; Diet.; Chronicdegenerative diseases..