Análise de imagens de refeições descritas como saudáveis postadas no Facebook: uma perspectiva nutricional a partir do guia alimentar para a população brasileira

Abstract

Overweight and obesity, which cause chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), are major public health problems in Brazil, and account for a large number of deaths worldwide. As a consequence, subjects like food and nutrition became evident in the media. It is understood that food encompasses social and cultural context, varying between social groups. Online social networks encompass these two subjects when they allow information to be accessed easily, but without confirmation of truthfulness. Considering the problem of obesity and the facilities allowed by the use of the Internet on a daily basis, the concern for health has increased. Thus, we sought to verify if images described as dishes intended for healthy eating posted on pages open to the public on the online social network Facebook are in line with the proposal suggested by the Ministry of Health in the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, material available free of charge. This exploratory study analyzes the visual data available in these networks to compare with the proposals to promote health, categorizing the divisions of food groups according to the Food Guide: breakfast, lunch, dinner and small meals. The method is based on non-participatory observation, without interaction with the profiles analyzed, comparing the photographs collected to those available in the Guide itself. We selected two pages of Brazilians on Facebook, non-professional health and with a minimum reach of 5,000 users. Half of the publications are of small meals, both pages encourage consumption of in natura food and one of the pages encourages restriction of food containing lactose and gluten. It was concluded that the pages that disclose healthy eating practices fit in part with the suggestions offered by the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. There is still a discourse of slimming and restrictive diets linked to healthy eating in order to promote health.