Identification of dietary patterns of adolescents attending public schools

Objective to identify the dietary patterns of adolescents attending public municipal schools in northern minas gerais,brazil,and to test the association between these patterns and socioeconomic variables and nutritional status of the adolescents. methods this was an analytical,cross-sectional study with randomized sample of 474 adolescents of both genders,between 11 and 17 years of age,attending municipal public schools in the urban area of montes claros,mg,brazil. the parents provided demographic and economic data. the nutritional status (body mass index - bmi) of the adolescents was determined at school,and their dietary habits were assessed though the administration of the food frequency questionnaire for adolescents (ffqa). based on 26 categories extracted from ffqa,dietary patterns were determined using principal component analysis (pca) and associated to anthropometric and socioeconomic factors using multiple regression analysis. results the three dietary patterns identified,junk food, healthy, and traditional