Latin American consumption of major food groups: Results from the ELANS study

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 26;14(12):e0225101. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225101. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Background: The Latin American (LA) region is still facing an ongoing epidemiological transition and shows a complex public health scenario regarding non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A healthy diet and consumption of specific food groups may decrease the risk of NCDs, however there is a lack of dietary intake data in LA countries.

Objective: Provide updated data on the dietary intake of key science-based selected food groups related to NCDs risk in LA countries.

Design: ELANS (Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health) is a multicenter cross-sectional study assessing food consumption from an urban sample between15 to 65 years old from 8 LA countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela). Two 24-HR were obtained from 9,218 individuals. The daily intake of 10 food groups related to NCDs risk (fruits; vegetables; legumes/beans; nuts and seeds; whole grains products; fish and seafood; yogurt; red meat; processed meats; sugar-sweetened beverages (ready-to-drink and homemade)) were assessed and compared to global recommendations.

Results: Only 7.2% of the overall sample reached WHO's recommendation for fruits and vegetables consumption (400 grams per day). Regarding the dietary patterns related to a reduced risk of NCDs, among the overall sample legumes and fruits were the food groups with closer intake to the recommendation, although much lower than expected (13.1% and 11.5%, respectively). Less than 3.5% of the sample met the optimal consumption level of vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish and yogurt. Largest country-dependent differences in average daily consumption were found for legumes, nuts, fish, and yogurt. Mean consumption of SSB showed large differences between countries.

Conclusion: Diet intake quality is deficient for nutrient-dense food groups, suggesting a higher risk for NCDs in the urban LA region in upcoming decades. These data provide relevant and up-to-date information to take urgent public health actions to improve consumption of critically foods in order to prevent NCDs.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diet*
  • Feeding Behavior*
  • Female
  • Food Preferences
  • Fruit
  • Humans
  • Latin America
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nutrition Surveys
  • Nutritional Status
  • Vegetables
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

The ELANS field work was originally supported by a scientific grant from the Coca Cola Company (Atlanta, GA, USA) and by grants and/or support from the ILSI Argentina, Instituto Pensi/Hospital Infantil Sabara, Universidad de Costa Rica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Colombia, Universidad Central de Venezuela/Fundación Bengoa, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and Instituto de Investigación Nutricional de Perú. The initial unrestricted grant from Coca Cola Company supported the design, data collection, field work and initial data analysis. Latin American ILSI branches (Argentina, Brazil, Mesoamerica, South Andean and North Andean) gave their support contributing with the fees for the open access journals. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing, any of the manuscripts, and in the decision to publish the results. The main researchers of ELANS are the only ones responsible for the scientific information that is published.