Profile and challenges of nutritional status of patients attending anout patient nutrition southern Brazil

Introduction: The nutritional and changes in life habits are key to the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable chronic diseases. Objective: To evaluate the characteristics and evolution of the nutritional status of patients seen in an Outpatient Nutrition in Southern Brazil. Methods: Analytical study using secondary data obtained through analysis of medical records of patients treated between January 2007 and June 2012, 785 patients of both sexes, aged were included in the study was performed 18 years. Statistical analyzes were performed using Stata ® 11.1 and values were considered significant at p ≤ 0.05. Results e discussion: Most patients (73.7%) were female, mean age 46.4 ± 15.4 years. The prevalence of overweight / obesity was more than 85% in both the first and in the last query. About 18% of women and 20% men improved their nutritional status. The percentage of loss or weight gain varied significantly according to the number of consultations (p = 0.008), with the time interval between the 1st and last visit (p = 0.012), and the initial BMI (p = 0.003). Both the initial BMI as the final varied significantly according to sex (p = 0.003 and 0.026, respectively). Conclusion: The results demonstrate the importance of nutritional counseling and insertion of professional dietitian in an outpatient setting, where the change of habits should be propagated among patients, reducing and preventing the occurrence and consequences of chronic diseases.