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Caribbean nutrition transition: what can we learn from dietary patterns in the French West Indies?

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite the urgency regarding increasing rates of obesity and chronic diseases in the Caribbean, few studies described the nutrition transition. We aimed to provide such information by identifying dietary patterns in the French West Indies and their characteristics.

Methods

This cross-sectional analysis included 1144 Guadeloupeans and Martinicans from a multistage sampling survey conducted on a representative sample. Dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis followed by a clustering procedure, and described using multivariable regression models.

Results

Four patterns were identified: (i) a “prudent” pattern characterized by high intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, seafood and yogurts, low intakes of fatty and sweet products, and a high Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I); (ii) a “traditional” pattern characterized by high intakes of fruits, vegetables, tubers and fish, low intakes of red and processed meat, snacks, fast foods, and sweetened beverages, with a high DQI-I, mostly shaped by women and older persons; (iii) a “convenient” pattern characterized by high intakes of sweetened beverages, snacks, and fast foods, with the lowest DQI-I, principally shaped by young participants; (iv) a “transitioning” pattern characterized by high consumptions of bread, processed meat, sauces, alcoholic and sweetened beverages, but also high intakes of tubers, legumes, and fish, mainly shaped by men, middle aged, of whom 35% had metabolic syndrome.

Conclusion

The co-existing dietary patterns in the French West Indies, marked by a generational contrast, seem to reflect different steps in dietary change as described in the literature, suggesting an ongoing nutrition transition.

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Abbreviations

95% CI:

95% Confidence interval

BMI:

Body mass index

BMR:

Basal metabolic rate

DQI-I:

Diet Quality Index-International

FFQ:

Food Frequency Questionnaire

HDL:

High-density lipoprotein

MetS:

Metabolic syndrome

NRF:

Nutrient-Rich Foods Index

OR:

Odds ratio

PCA:

Principal component analysis

SE:

Standard error

SEM:

Standard error of mean

SES:

Socioeconomic status

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Martinique health observatory (OSM), the Guadeloupe health observatory (Orsag), the regional health agency of Martinique (ARS-Martinique), the regional health agency of Guadeloupe (ARS-Guadeloupe), the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safe (Anses) and the French Public Health Agency (Santé publique France), as the main investigators, promoters and supporters of the Kannari study. The authors thank the Nutritional Surveillance and Epidemiology Team (ESEN), French Public Health Agency, and Paris-13 University, as the main investigator of the nutritional part of the study and for access to the Kannari database and support documentation. The authors specially thank Katia Castetbon for access to her previous work on Kannari database and her help in data comprehension.

Funding

This study was part of the NuTWInd project (Nutrition Transition in French West Indies), supported by the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR) in the context of the 2016 “appel à projets générique” (ANR-16-CE21-0009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOISA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CIHEAM-IAMM, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, UMR 1110 MOISA, 2 place Pierre Viala, 34000, Montpellier, France

    Zoé Colombet, Marlène Perignon, Marie-Josèphe Amiot, Nicole Darmon & Caroline Méjean

  2. Université de Paris, CRESS, INSERM, INRA, 93017, Bobigny, Cnam, France

    Benjamin Allès

  3. Université Paris 13, CRESS, INSERM, INRA, 93017, Bobigny, Cnam, France

    Benjamin Allès

  4. Nutripass, Université de Montpellier, Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France

    Edwige Landais & Yves Martin-Prevel

Authors
  1. Zoé Colombet
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  2. Benjamin Allès
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  3. Marlène Perignon
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  4. Edwige Landais
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  5. Yves Martin-Prevel
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  6. Marie-Josèphe Amiot
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  7. Nicole Darmon
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  8. Caroline Méjean
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Contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows: Z.C. designed the study, performed statistical analysis, interpreted data, and drafted the manuscript; B.A., M.P., E.L., Y.M.P., M.J.A., and N.D. were involved in the interpretation of data, and helped to draft the manuscript; C.M. was involved in the conception and design of the study, supervision of statistical analysis and interpretation of data, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zoé Colombet.

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Colombet, Z., Allès, B., Perignon, M. et al. Caribbean nutrition transition: what can we learn from dietary patterns in the French West Indies?. Eur J Nutr 60, 1111–1124 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-020-02317-x

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