What Can Dietary Patterns Tell Us about the Nutrition Transition and Environmental Sustainability of Diets in Uganda?

oleh: Carolyn Imelda Auma, Rebecca Pradeilles, Megan K. Blake, Michelle Holdsworth

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-02-01

Deskripsi

Uganda is undergoing dietary transition, with possible environmental sustainability and health implications, particularly for women. To explore evidence for dietary transitions and identify how environmentally sustainable women&#8217;s dietary patterns are, principal component analysis was performed on dietary data collected using a 24 h recall during the Uganda Food Consumption Survey (<i>n</i> = 957). Four dietary patterns explained 23.6% of the variance. The &#8220;traditional, high-fat, medium environmental impact&#8222; pattern was characterized by high intakes of nuts/seeds, fats, oils and spreads, fish and boiled vegetables. High intakes of bread and buns, rice and pasta, tea and sugar characterized the &#8220;transitioning, processed, low environmental impact&#8217; pattern. The &#8216;plant-based, low environmental impact&#8222; pattern was associated with high intakes of legumes, boiled roots/tubers, boiled traditional vegetables, fresh fruit and fried traditional cereals. High intakes of red/organ meats, chicken, and soups characterized the &#8220;animal-based high environmental impact&#8222; pattern. Urban residence was positively associated with &#8220;transitioning, processed, low environmental impact&#8222; (&#946; = 1.19; 1.06, 1.32) and &#8220;animal-based high environmental impact&#8222; (&#946; = 0.45; 0.28, 0.61) patterns; but negatively associated with the &#8220;plant-based low environmental impact&#8222; pattern (&#946;= &#8722;0.49; &#8722;0.62, &#8722;0.37). A traditional, high-fat dietary pattern with medium environmental impact persists in both contexts. These findings provide some evidence that urban women&#8217;s diets are transitioning.