Away-from-Home Eating and Dietary Patterns of Ugandan Adults: a Web-based- Survey / 대한지역사회영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Objectives@#Away-from-home (AFH) eating has been associated with poor diet quality and health outcomes like obesity in developed countries. AFH eating is also emerging in lowincome countries, but its influence on overall diet quality is under-researched. We examined the prevalence of AFH eating and its influence on the dietary patterns of Ugandan adults. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional study employed a web-based survey to interview Ugandan adults aged 18 ~ 65 years. A qualitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the food group intake, which was then converted into daily intake frequencies. Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns. The participants were then classified based on the tertiles (T) of dietary pattern scores. @*Results@#About 75% of the 375 participants reported eating AFH. The young men, food insecure, and urban dwellers were more likely to eat AFH  5 times/week. Three dietary patterns emerged; the animal-based, beverage pattern; the high fat, sweet pattern; and the traditional, plant-based pattern. Participants who frequently ate AFH were 2.85 times and 5.64 times more likely to be in the second and third tertiles, respectively, of the animalbased, beverage pattern compared to the rare eaters (OR = 2.85, 95% CI 1.35-6.06 for T2 vs T1; and OR = 5.64, 95% CI 2.50-12.73 for T3 vs T1). The odds of being in the second tertile of the high fat, sweet pattern was significantly higher for frequent AFH eaters compared to the rare eaters (OR = 2.61, 95% CI1.23-5.52). @*Conclusions@#The prevalence of AFH eating was high. Frequent AFH eating was common among the young, male, food insecure, and urban dwellers, and was associated with unhealthy dietary patterns.