[Evaluation of food consumption in overweight women before starting voluntary dieting programs]

The dietary intake of 50 premenopausal, overweight women, aged between 18 and 50 years old (31 +/- 9 years), with a mean body mass index of 29.9 +/- 3.1 kg/m2, was evaluated using the 24 hour recall method, the day before the start of a voluntary dietetic treatment. All the women had repeatedly tried losing weight throughout the courses of their lives. Caloric restriction was compared with weight loss after a week of dietetic treatment. Our results indicate that none of the women taking part in the study reported diets balanced in energy and nutrients. Although in 50% of the patients dietary energy intake was insufficient, all of them, when submitted to a diet of 1200 kcal per day, lost more weight (0.8-1.5 kg) than expected. The high fat intake and above all carbohydrate deficiency in these patients, indicate the lack of nutritional knowledge in their weight loss attempts. In our opinion, nutritional education is necessary to help them implement a balanced diet.