For 6 out of 10 Argentine mothers, it is "very difficult" to follow a healthy diet at home

Nearly six in ten (58%) 20- to 40-year-old mothers with children aged 0 to 5 years reported that it was somewhat or very difficult to maintain a healthy diet at home. This level of difficulty increases in the lower socio-economic layers (NSE) (65%) and in families with 3 or more children (76%). In addition, 88% of women are responsible for the home's food menu and 95% are those who usually cook.

These are just some of the findings from an online survey of 300 mothers aged 20 to 40 with children aged 0 to 5 years in CABA and Greater Buenos Aires, which took place in week from September 15th to 24th of this year. by consultant Luis Costa & Asoc at the request of Healthy Revolution, an initiative to change the behavioral habits of the population to improve the quality of life.

"Although we can badume that at a lower socioeconomic level, it is more difficult to maintain a healthy family basket, the values ​​are a real alarm because deficient nutrition greatly increases the risk of overweight and obesity. corresponds to what we are currently seeing. " more vulnerable layers, "said cardiologist Jorge Tartaglione, president of the Argentine Heart Foundation (FCA) and promoter of the" Healthy Revolution "movement.

In Argentina, according to figures from the Food Security Panorama of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) and the United Nations Food and Drugs Agriculture (FAO), 7.3% of children under 5 are obese.

On the other hand, according to the statistics of the country's Ministry of Health, 30% of school-aged children are overweight and 6% suffer from obesity. This situation is partly explained by an obesogenic food context, characterized by an increase in the consumption of processed products (bread, cheese, sausages, wine and beer, for example) and ultra-processed foods (snacks, ice cream, hamburgers, chocolates, bills, sweet biscuits and pizzas, among others), which bring a large amount of sugar and sodium to our diet, as well as a reduced overall consumption of fruits and vegetables.

"Taking into account this problem of overweight and obesity at such an early age," Healthy Revolution 0-5 "appeared, an initiative presented in the Healthy Revolution platform, which aims to provide parents 39, children from 0 to 5 years old useful tools to combat the epidemic of obesity in children.It is much simpler and more effective to integrate healthy habits during childhood than to try to change unhealthy behaviors in adulthood, "said cardiologist Fiorella Tartaglione, Trinidad Sanitarium, member of the CFA Executive Committee and staff of Healthy Revolution.

The survey also shows that having received information to decide whether a product is healthy or not significantly influences the choice of household food. While 79% said they were very or somewhat informed, one in five (20%) said they considered themselves "little or not informed". And by segmenting the responses, it was observed that the difficulty in choosing a healthy diet fell to 51% among informed people and reached 89% in those who were not.

When considering the choice of food groups, vegetable consumption, for example, was reported by 82% of informed mothers and by 67% of less informed mothers; that of fruits, 80 vs, 71% and that of skim milk, 56 vs. 36%

Informed people had higher inflows from other groups, such as water with or without gas (82 vs. 71%), red meats (83 vs. 71%), sweet biscuits (74 vs. 64%), whole milk (59% to 51%), sausages (56% to 48%), deli meats (56% to 47%), baby desserts (49% to 33%), frozen beverages (41% to 33%) and beverages non-alcoholic (40 to 33%)).

In this same line, when consumption is open by socio-economic level, a decrease in the consumption of all kinds of products appears in the lower layers, with the exception of sweet biscuits, sausages and soft drinks, common and light versions.

"It's important to observe how informed moms opting for healthier foods choose healthier groups, which shows us the importance of education and gives practical tips practical tips for them." help make better choices, "said Tartaglione. .

Consulted on the aspects that they favor at home when talking about adult nutrition, the informed ones gave priority in this order: health 45%, ease of preparation 27% and taste 26%. For their part, the poorly informed preferred ease of preparation at 54%, health at 23% and taste at 22%.

Before the same consultation, but referring to the feeding of their children, the informed are of paramount importance if the food is healthy (64%), the taste (20%) and the ease of preparation (14%)while the poorest informed chose health in 49% of cases, ease of preparation in 30% of cases and taste in 19% of cases.

Among other results of the survey, and beyond their level of information, when asked to rate health status, 65% rated it as bad or very bad for the general population and the 66% did the same badessment for children's health. However, when asked about their own health status, 83% said that he was between good and very good.

Main health problem of the Argentines, they mentioned drug use with 27%, obesity and overweight with 14% and stress with 12%, followed by cancer and malnutrition (10% each). and cardiovascular diseases (8%). Conditions such as smoking and alcohol use were only mentioned first by 1% and 3% respectively.

"Although this answer goes beyond the primary objectives of the survey, it also informs us about our reality and the real concerns of our population, at least women with young children. relegate virtually immaterial values ​​to two very serious problems, such as smoking and alcoholism, "said Tartaglione.

When asked about the frequency with which the label is read with nutritional information, 42% always or almost always do so., while 53% do it a few times or sometimes and 5% never look at it. Among the information consulted, the first positions are occupied by the expiry date (67%), the ingredients (42%), the amount of sugar (35%) and the total, saturated and trans fats (35%), the information (34% of reports) and energy / calories (32%).

Another aspect of the survey was the frequency of food purchases by delivery: 3 out of 10 (30%) said they do it once a week or more, and the most popular products were pizza and empanadas (84% ice cream (37%), grilled meat (24%), sandwiches / hamburgers (23%), Milanese (21%), Chinese dishes (14%), Japanese (13%), pies (9%) and pasta (8%) .

As for food outside the home, 22% go out at least once a week and, when they do it with their children, they appreciate that the place is entertaining to them ( 41%), that it is economically accessible (31%) and in only 19% of cases, it was preferred to have a healthy menu.

"Without a doubt, situations in which cooking is not done at home, both during childbirth and at the restaurant, are scenarios in which most people favor taste and entertainment compared to the guidelines of a healthy diet.. It is a subject on which a job also fits, surely sharing health advice with the population, but also inviting stores to include more varieties and more varied frequencies among their offers, "concluded Tartaglione.