Efeito de biscoitos contendo farinha da castanha de caju (Anacardium Occidentale L.) no sobrepeso pediátrico: ensaio clínico randomizado e aberto

Abstract

Overweight in children and adolescents is a public health problem, associated with multiple complications. In order to contribute to reversing this problem, the number of studies on the use of natural products applied to health is increasing. Given the compromise that excess weight represents in the quality of life of this population, interventions that help in its control must be studied to assist in nutritional adequacy and reduction of comorbidities. The objective of this research was to analyze the effect of consuming cookies containing cashew nut flour (Anacardium occidentale L.) on anthropometric, glycemic and triglyceridemia parameters in overweight children and adolescents. This is a randomized clinical trial, with open blinding, conducted with 19 participants, including children and adolescents, for four weeks in a municipal public school in Imperatriz MA. The inclusion criteria were: children and adolescents between seven and 15 years old, regardless of gender, enrolled and attending the participating school, authorized by their legal guardians and overweight in relation to the body mass index for age and Z score according to the weight indicator. × height for age and sex. The research was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Federal University of Maranhão. Participants were allocated to two intervention groups (GI 1 and GI 2) and received daily, respectively, three biscuits containing 50% cashew nut flour and six biscuits containing 50% cashew nut flour, primarily at snack time. school. After four weeks of consuming the cookies, it was identified that the eosinophils of participants in GI 2 were doubled in relation to GI 1 (p=0.037). In GI 1, lymphocytes showed a high magnitude difference, but without statistical relevance (p=0.076). Between the groups, weight (p=0.054), triceps skinfold thickness (p= 0.019) and upper arm circumference (p=0.039) increased in GI 2. When comparing the groups after the experiment, no statistically significant differences were identified and/ or considerable effect size on body mass index (p=0.374), waist circumference (p=0.550), hip circumference (p=0.737), subscapular skinfold (p=0.376), triceps skinfold (p=0.080) and biceps skinfold (p=0.080). In the comparative biochemical analysis, it was found that after the experiment, the biomarkers triglycerides (p=0.153), HDL-cholesterol (p=0.895) and total cholesterol (p=0.122) had no significant changes. In the overview of the lipid profile, it is worth mentioning that LDL-cholesterol levels had a slight increase of 0.52%, but statistically significant (p=0.031), in all participants who made up the sample. In the case of the non-HDL cholesterol biomarker, the finding was opposite: a slight and significant reduction of -1.7% in serum concentration (p=0.014). The glycated hemoglobin and mean glycemia of the participants, regardless of the allocation group, had a statistically significant reduction of 12.1% the sample under study, that the consumption of cookies containing cashew nut flour by overweight children and adolescents, for four weeks, benefited in reducing blood glucose and non-HDL cholesterol, in both groups.