General characteristics of study population
Most of the evaluated farmers were married or living with a partner, were in socioeconomic class C, had low schooling (67.7% with less than 4 years of schooling), 66.4% (n=491) reported not having adequate place for physical activity and 93.5% (n=690) used their own vehicle as means of transportation (Table 2). Almost 80% (78.1%, n=578) owned their land and 90% (n=666) worked in conventional agriculture. Half of the farmers (50.8%, n=375) worked from 10 to 29 years in the field, 56.8% (n=420) cultivated five or more crops (larger in men, p=0.004), worked in temporary crop (43.2%, n=320) and had a high workload (80.1% with more than 40 working hours per week, higher in men with p<0.001). Almost 70% of farmers had direct contact with pesticides, this contact being greater in men (p<0.001).
Regarding lifestyle (Table 2), 43.4% (n=321) reported consuming alcohol and 15% (n=111) reported being a current or former smoker, both more prevalent in males (p<0.001). More than 80% didn't practice any physical activity extra-field and 45.3% (n=335) presented sedentary leisure assessed by screen time. Regarding eating habits, 54.5% (n=403) purchased food from two or less different locations and purchased low-frequency food (72% once/month or less, n=533). The amount spent per capita on food purchases in almost half of the farmers (44.9%, n=319) ranged from over R$ 100 up to R$ 200 per month. The habit of eating out was frequently reported by 33.2% of the individuals (n=246), with this practice being more common among men (p<0.001) and eating at a table was present in 74.1 % (n=548) of farmers.
Dietary sources and nutritional characteristics
The most consumed items by this population were rice and coffee, beans, poultry meat, sugar, butter and margarine, homemade bread, oils, pasta, tomato, potato, and others typically foods (Table 3). Tomato was the only vegetable consumed in more than half of the population (64.9%) and 88.6% of the farmers consume at least some vegetables. The other vegetables consumed were green condiment, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, and others. Fruit consumption was even lower, only 48.9% of farmers consume some kind of fruit. The most consumed fruit was banana, followed by lemon, apple, guava, mango, grape, watermelon and peach.
Dietary patterns
After rotational factor analysis, three dietary patterns were obtained (Table 4), namely: “pattern 1 – local traditional”: sugar; coffee; butter and margarine; homemade bread, "brote", cakes and cookies; juice and sugary beverages; potatoes, yams and cassava; and pasta; “pattern 2 – traditional Brazilian”: beans; rice; vegetables (tomato, green condiment, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, chayote, pepper, okra, green leafy vegetables, scarlet eggplant, pumpkin and pod); flour (flour and farofa); and oils and fats; and “pattern 3 – industrialized”: soda; snacks, fried food, hamburger, hot dog, garlic bread and trooper's beans; red meat (beef and pork); sausage, canned food, industrialized condiment and sauce; alcoholic drinks (distilled beverages, bear and wine); and industrialized breads, cookies, toasts and threads. The component “homemade breads, ‘brote’, cakes and cookies” presented high negative factor load in the “industrialized” group, which demonstrates that individuals of this first dietary pattern have very low consumption of this type of food.
The total variance explained by the factors was 23.8%. Foods with a low factorial load in one component were considered to be of low correlation and did not saturated in the any dietary pattern, which makes it possible to consider them as foods of homogeneous consumption among individuals. They are: white meat (poutries and fishes), candies (chocolate, pies, jams, ice cream and other sweets), eggs, soups and broths, fruits (banana, lemon, apple, guava, mango, grape, watermelon and peach), milk, cheese and yogurt and polenta (polenta and corn-grits).
Factors effect on farmers' dietary pattern
Associated with the greater adherence to the “traditional local” pattern was the male sex, the age group from 30 to 39 years old, the race/white color, having 4 to 8 years of study, transport using their own vehicle, owning the land, working with 5 or more crops and more than 40 hours per week, having direct contact with pesticides, consumption of alcoholic beverages and eating out frequently (Table 5). Lower adherence to this first pattern was associated with being separated, divorced or widowed and working only with permanent crops. Regarding the greater adherence to the “traditional Brazilian” pattern, men were associated with transport using their own vehicle, having direct contact with pesticides, consuming alcoholic beverages and being a current or former smoker. In addition, it was associated with greater adherence to the “industrialized” pattern to be male, aged up to 29 years old, single and non-white, socioeconomic class A or B, over 8 years old of schooling, have a place to practice physical activity in the residence surroundings, transport using their own vehicle, working only with temporary crops, having direct contact with pesticides, drink alcohol, be a current or former smoker, have sedentary leisure, buy food in 3 places or more, spend R$ 200 or more (per capita/month) on food, eating often outside, and eating away from a table.
From the found associations, multiple analyses were performed for each dietary pattern (Tables 6, 7 and 8). Thus, the variables “age group, race/color, number of worked crops and physical activity extra-field were associated with the “local traditional” pattern (Table 6). Individuals aged 50 years and older were 56% less likely to adhere to this dietary pattern than those up to 29 years old (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.25–0.74, p=0.003). Farmers of non-white race/color were 58% less likely to be more adherent to this dietary pattern (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.23–0.74, p=0.003) and those who practiced extra-physical activity, 47% less likely to be more adherent to the “local traditional” pattern (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.25–0.86, p=0.014). However, workers who cultivated 5 or more crops were 1.59 times more likely to adhere to this pattern (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.15–2.19, p=0.005).
Regarding the “traditional Brazilian” pattern, farmers working in non-conventional agriculture were 54% less likely to adhere more to this dietary pattern (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.25–0.86, p=0.014) (Table 7).
For the third pattern, it was identified that the higher the age group, the lower the chances of farmers adhering to the “industrialized” pattern (Table 8). Individuals aged 30 to 39 years were 44% less likely (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.36–0.87, p=0.009), those aged 40 to 49 years were 67% less likely (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.21–0.53, p<0.001) and those aged 50 and over, 82% less likely (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.10–0.30, p<0.001) to adhere to this pattern than those aged 30 and under. Still, individuals of socioeconomic class D or E were 52% less likely to adhere to this pattern (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.96, p=0.037), whereas those who worked with temporary and permanent tillage had 1.57 times more likely to adhere to the “industrialized” pattern (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.21–2.41, p=0.002) than those working only on temporary tillage. Still, farmers who spent R$ 200 or more per capita to buy food were more than twice as likely to adhere to this food pattern (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.32–3.73, p=0.003). Likewise, those who had the habit of frequently eating out were 1.62 times more likely to adhere to this pattern (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.11–2.36, p=0.012) and those without the habit of eating at a table, 1.56 times more likely to adhere more to the “industrialized” pattern (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.05–2.31, p=0.028).