Abstract
Objectives
We aimed to assess the associations of socioeconomic factors with dietary patterns in a Guatemalan population.
Methods
Cross-sectional data of 1076 participants (42 % men, mean age 32.6 ± 4.2 years) collected between 2002 and 2004 in four rural villages in Guatemala. Dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis. Chi-square and Poisson regression models were used to assess associations between socioeconomic factors and dietary patterns.
Results
Three dietary patterns were identified: “Western” (high in processed foods), “traditional” (high in traditional foods) and “coffee and sugar”, explaining 11, 7 and 6 % of the variance, respectively. Annual expenditures were associated with a higher adherence to the “Western” pattern: prevalence ratios [(PR) (95 % confidence interval)] 1.92 (1.17–3.15) for the highest vs. lowest expenditure group in men and 8.99 (3.57–22.64) in women. A borderline significant (p = 0.06) negative association was found between the “traditional” pattern and higher household expenditures [0.71 (0.49–1.02) in men] and with schooling [0.23 (0.05–1.02)] in women (p = 0.05).
Conclusions
Dietary patterns in Guatemala are predicted by socioeconomic factors. In particular, high annual expenditures are associated with a more westernized, less traditional diet.
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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Procedures were approved by the institutional review boards at INCAP, Emory University, and the International Food Policy Research Institute. An informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Funding
Data were collected using funding provided by the US National Institutes of Health (R01 TW-05598: PI Martorell). Ana-Lucia Mayén-Chacón is a recipient of a Swiss Excellence Government scholarship. Silvia Stringhini is supported by an Ambizione Grant (No. PZ00P3_147998) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Funders had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article.
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Mayén, AL., Stringhini, S., Ford, N.D. et al. Socioeconomic predictors of dietary patterns among Guatemalan adults. Int J Public Health 61, 1069–1077 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0863-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0863-3