The objective of this work was to determine if there is a correlation (r) between gastrointestinal health and the consumption of simple sugars, dietary fiber, and tap water in a working population (n=185). Also, the obtention of data was achieved by the digitalization of an evaluation instrument (survey), and the use of electronic devices with internet access. The clinical evaluation of digestive health was carried out by applying a survey using an electronic platform (www.survio.com) previously fed with data from a validated instrument (Castillo Sandoval, De Isla Quiroga, García García, & Sepúlveda De León, 2018). From the dietary evaluation, the daily intake of simple sugars, tap water, and dietary fiber was obtained using a semi-quantitative food consumption frequency questionnaire, and the AZ Nutrition® software processed the data. Once the data were collected, descriptive statistics of the gastrointestinal health and dietary intake of the working population were obtained. Besides, a Pearson correlation analysis (r, p<0.05) was performed to determine the association between the consumption of certain nutrients with gastrointestinal health. The results of the digestive health indicated that between 74% and 80% of the evaluated population have “very good” and “good” perceptions of their general health status. Concerning specific gastrointestinal symptoms, women reported a higher percentage of malaises such as nausea (30%), abdominal pain (41%), headache (52%), abdominal inflammation (55%), and flatulence (62%), referring to them as sensations from “mild” to “severe” in the last two weeks. For the fecal consistency indicator, 58% and 49% of men and women, respectively, responded to the presence of Type 4 evacuations in the Bristol scale, which is considered as “normal”. This indicated that almost half of the population presented feces with a non-adequate consistency. Regarding fecal characteristics, 31% of the women reported pain from “mild” to “severe” for the indicator painful evacuations, and 33% referred to the presence of urgent evacuations in an intensity from “mild” to “severe”. About the results obtained from the dietary evaluation, it was observed that the studied population consumed a daily average of 145 g of simple sugars, 47.69 g of dietary fiber, and 1,783.05 mL of tap water. This exceeded the recommendations of simple sugars (82.5-60 g/day) and dietary fiber (40 g/day) consumption. The tap water intake of 61% of the workers was below the recommendation (~35 mL/kg of weight/day). Finally, Pearson’s correlation analysis (r) showed that there were few associations between gastrointestinal health and the consumption of certain foods. In particular, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between the intake of simple sugars with the presence of reflux and painful evacuations. On the other hand, dietary fiber intake was positively associated with the presence of reflux (p<0,05) and with the simple sugars intake (p<0.0001). Furthermore, a significant negative association (p<0.05) of the tap water intake with the number of evacuations was found. And a significant positive correlation between the intake of tap water with the consumption of dietary fiber and simple sugars. This indicated that a more detailed analysis of the type of ultra-processed products that the population is consuming must be carried out. The use and application of digital methodologies allowed the obtention of gastrointestinal and dietary data in a faster and efficient mode. Moreover, data processing and analysis were more straightforward and uncomplicated, which become essential in these uncertain times of social distancing and opens new techniques to be implemented during the nutrition care process.
- Labor force population
- Simple sugars
- Dietary fiber
- Tap water
- Digestive health
- Digital methodologies
- Start-ups