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The purpose of this paper is to examine the associations of dietary patterns with sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics in a cardiometabolic risk population.

In this cross-sectional study data from 295 (n=123 men/172 women, 42±16 years) participants in a Cardiovascular Health Care Program were included. After a 24-hour recall interview the dietary patterns were determined using principal component analysis. Sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle data were collected by medical records.

Subjects with diabetes and hypertension had a higher adherence in the “traditional” pattern (rice, beans, tubers, oils and meats). Poisson regression models showed that male subjects with low schooling and smokers had greater adherence to the “traditional” pattern. Also, students, women, and those with higher schooling and sleeping =7 h/night showed higher adherence to healthy patterns (whole grains, nuts, fruits and dairy). Women, young adults and those with higher schooling and fewer sleep hours had greater adherence to healthy dietary patterns. Those with low schooling and unhealthy lifestyle showed more adherence to the “traditional” pattern.

The results indicate the importance to personalized nutritional therapy and education against cardiometabolic risk, considering the dietary patterns specific to each population.

Socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics can influence dietary patterns and this is one of the few studies that investigated this relationship performing principal component analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the energy density (ED) of workers' diets and examine their relationship with nutrient intake, diet quality, socio‐demographic and anthropometric factors.

Dietary data were collected by a 24‐hour recall. ED, defined as energy per unit weight of diet, included all food and excluded all beverages. Diet quality was evaluated using the Brazilian version of the health eating index. The associations between ED and socio‐demographic variables and body mass index were examined using regression models.

The study evaluated 201 individuals: 51 percent male; mean age 33.4 years (SD=9.5); 43 percent overweight. Women and men presented similar mean ED: 1.99 (95 percent CI: 1.90‐2.09) and 1.95 (95 percent CI: 1.89‐201). ED was inversely associated with age (β: −0.009; 95 percent CI: −0.015; −0.002) and with leisure physical activity (β: −0.049; 95 percent CI: −0.096; −0.002) and directly associated with liquid intake during meals (β: 0.159; 95 percent CI: 0.003; 0.285). Diets with higher ED were of lower quality: richer in total fat, saturated fat, trans fatty acids and added sugars, and concomitantly providing less vitamin C and less fiber. There was no association between ED and anthropometric variables.

The high ED diets consumed by these workers might represent a risk, because of the relationship between low quality diets and chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, obesity and cancer.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of an intervention to reduce the energy density of meals in the workplace food environment.

This study was conducted on a cosmetics manufacturer that employed 243 people, and was divided into three phases: diagnostic evaluation; development and testing of modifications to the energy density of the preparations; and evaluation of the results obtained. To evaluate the menus, the Meal Quality Index was used. This index consists of five components ranging from 0 to 20 points: “Adequacy of availability of vegetable and fruit”, “Carbohydrate availability”, “Total fat availability”, “Saturated fat availability” and “Menu variability”. The Kruskal‐Wallis test was used to evaluate differences in phases 1 and 3.

The classification, according to the scores for the Meal Quality Index, showed that there was an improvement in the menus, with a decrease in inadequate menus from 31 per cent to 5 per cent and in menus needing improvement from 44 per cent to 29 per cent.

Changes that are relatively simple to implement and reproduce regarding meal production may contribute towards controlling the obesity epidemic, through discouraging the obesogenic environment, especially among captive healthy customers such as workers who use the food services in their workplaces.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the profiles of those frequenting full-service restaurants and eating raw vegetable salads, as well as to analyze the influence of socio-demographic variables and of the tendency for social desirability in consumption frequencies.

A non-probabilistic consumer sample (n=630) was interviewed in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Besides the frequency of eating in full-service restaurants and the frequency of eating salads (as a function of the meal type and week day) in this type of restaurant, the survey instrument was also composed by socio-demographic variables and a social desirability scale. To compare data, non-parametric tests were used.

Of the interviewees, 52.3 percent were shown to eat in full-service restaurants at least once a week. The frequency of eating salads in full-service restaurant stood out as being significantly higher (p<0.05) for weekday lunches. Individuals who graduated in the areas of health or food showed a significantly higher frequency for the consumption of salads at weekends. Apparently the social desirability did not influence the responses of the consumers with respect to the frequencies studied.

The sample was of a non-probabilistic type, bringing reservations with respect to generalizations.

Socio-demographic variables should be considered in elaborating strategies for promoting vegetable salads consumption in restaurants. Health and nutrition education programs can be effective in aiding consumers to choose healthier food in this context.

Studies about frequency of salad consumption in restaurants are scarce. The influence of social desirability bias on reported frequency was analyzed in this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to present a first proposal of a healthy dietary diversity index to evaluate meals in self-service restaurants.

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study in a Brazilian buffet-style restaurant. The study group was selected by systematic sampling and consisted of 678 individuals aged 16-81 years, who were regular diners at a selected restaurant during lunchtime. Photographs were used to assess food choices and a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to the subjects. A healthy dietary diversity model was created following WHO recommendations and the Brazilian Food Guide. A consensus workshop was conducted with experts to discuss and classify certain dishes as more or less healthy (high/low energy density). The model attributed negative (−3.0-0.0) and positive (0.0-12.0) scores to different food groups. Higher scores meant greater diversity on the plate, and therefore a greater chance of a healthy meal (=9.0), while a lower score reflected a higher variety of energy-dense foods, such as fried dishes (=6.0).

Most diner’s plates (65.3 per cent) obtained low diversity score indexes (=6) and were considered inadequate, represented the dishes where intake should be controlled from a nutritional viewpoint (over caloric meal). There was a significant association between healthy diversity scores (=9.0) and low variety of high energy density dishes on the plates.

This method of assessing the healthy dietary diversity of a main meal could be tested as an innovative model for investigating the food choices of individuals who eat away from home.

This paper aims to investigate whether the interaction between vitamin D receptor (VDR) FokI polymorphism and dietary patterns is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components.

In total, 304 Iranians were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis. Fasting serum glucose and lipid profile were also assessed. FokI polymorphism of the VDR gene was genotyped using the restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

Individuals in third tertile of “Unhealthy Patterns had greater odds for MetS (odds ratio: 2.9; 95 per cent CI: 1.3, 6.1; P for trend = 0.03) compared to those in first tertile. Significant results disappeared after controlling for covariates (p = 0.09). There was no significant relationship between adherence to ‘Healthy Pattern’ and odds of MetS (p = 0.55). There were not any interactions between FokI polymorphism and major dietary patterns associated with MetS.

No evidence found for the interaction between polymorphism FokI and major dietary patterns associated with MetS and its components in Iranian subjects. Genome-wide association techniques are needed to assess the direct effect of this polymorphism on MetS.

This paper aims to assess the consumption of dairy products in Kuwaiti children, and develop and validate a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to measure dairy product consumption.

This cross-sectional study was based on a sample of child–parent dyads (n = 150). A dietary assessment questionnaire on local dairy products consumed by preschool and preadolescent children was developed. Serving and portion sizes were evaluated on the basis of the guidelines of the United States Department of Agriculture and the American Academy of Pediatrics to calculate median intake levels of three age groups (3-5, 6-8 and 9-11 years).

All children met or exceeded the recommended daily servings of dairy products for their age and sex. Dairy product intake was often from processed dairy including milk-based desserts, flavored milk and cheese. Compared to boys, girls consumed more yogurt (15.5 per cent vs 14.2 per cent, p = 0.001) and milk-based desserts (15.5 vs 14.3, p = 0.001). In boys, flavored milk contributed more to the total dairy intake than in girls, especially in 6-8-year-olds (21.8 per cent vs 18.9 per cent, p = 0.021). Weight status was not associated with dairy product intake in either sex.

This is the first study that quantifies dairy product consumption in Kuwaiti children and provides insight into sex-specific trends in dairy product selection. The findings of this study may help in investigating relationships between dairy product consumption in children and disease risk factors, and are important for the development of local dietary guidelines for children.

This study aims to investigate dietary intake among elderly living in agricultural settlements in comparison with a recent nutritional recommendation.

This cross-sectional study was carried out among elderly living in five agricultural settlements in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Participants were interviewed on socio-demographic information such as age, gender, marital status, smoking status, household income, education level and living status. Data on individual dietary intake were obtained through diet history method. Dietary intake data were analyzed using Nutritionist Pro software and compared to the recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) for Malaysia version 2017. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software version 21.

A total of 413 participants (male 32.4 per cent and female 67.6 per cent) with the mean age of 69.4 ± 7.9 years participated in this study. Dietary intake results demonstrated that participants did not meet the Malaysian RNI for energy and most nutrients (p < 0.05). This study also found that energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, folate and iron intake were significantly higher in male than female (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, calcium and vitamin A intake were significantly higher in female than male (p < 0.05).

Integrated nutrition education and health promotion programme with a multidisciplinary approach are essential to be designed and executed to improve dietary intake of the elderly, which can further lead to appropriate dietary practices and knowledge improvement related to healthy food choices. Factors associated with inadequate dietary intake and awareness on the importance of adequate nutrients intake among the elderly warrant further investigation.

This research is at the forefront, which indicated that the dietary intake of elderly individuals living in the agricultural settlement was inadequate in comparison to the latest recommendation. Strategies to improve their intakes need to be developed and implemented accordingly to improve nutritional status and prevent adverse effects to health.

Employees eat at least one meal per day in the workplace on a regular basis, carrying implications for their physical and emotional well-being. For migrants, this can be challenging, owing to food culture differences. This study explores migrant workers’ perceptions of the food eaten in the hospitality workplace.

Eleven in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were carried out with migrant workers in three- and four-star hotels in the southwest of England.

The findings show that the food eaten in the workplace is perceived as unhealthy and fattening and therefore unappealing. This partly informs a decision to eat home country food away from work.

Further research is needed across many more organisations to investigate whether this would actually have the positive impact on employee well-being (migrant or home national) and employer reputation.

Providing additional “off-menu” meals for migrant employees is recognised. However, staff turnover within the hotel environment may mean that dishes acceptable to one nationality may not be acceptable to another. Alternatively, it may be that attention to such details and the provision of a food offering that is seen as fit for purpose by staff may reduce turnover and demonstrate “care” on the part of the employer. An annual staff survey could be conducted to gauge employee opinion.

This study helps to show the significance of food for migrant well-being. It highlights that in increasingly globalised workplaces, food provision is important for both emotional and physical health. The study's findings have relevance to other multicultural workplaces where the food provided to staff may have consequences for employee well-being.

Little research has focused on the link between the food consumed in the hospitality workplace and migrant worker well-being. This study therefore makes an important contribution to knowledge by exploring feelings about the food eaten at work from the perspective of migrant workers themselves.

The purpose of this research is to (1) identify factors affecting food choices of young adults in Canada based on environmental perceptions, personal and behavioral factors as determinants of eating behaviors; (2) segment Canadian young adults based on the importance of the identified factors in their food choices.

An online survey was administered to Canadians aged between 18 and 24 to collect data on socio-demographic factors and eating behaviors (N = 297). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify the main factors affecting eating behaviors in young adults, followed by K-means clustering to categorize the respondents into consumer segments based on their propensity to agree with the factors.

Six factors were extracted: beliefs (ethical, environmental and personal); familiarity and convenience; joy and experience; food influencers and sociability; cultural identity; and body image. Using these factors, six consumer segments were identified, whereby members of each segment have more similar scores on each factor than members of other segments. The six consumer segments were: “conventional”; “concerned”; “indifferent”; “non-trend follower”; “tradition-follower”; and “eat what you love”.

Identifying major factors influencing eating behaviors and consumer segmentation provides insights on how eating behaviors might be shaped. Furthermore, the outcomes of this study are important for designing effective interventions for shaping eating behaviors particularly improving sustainable eating habits.