Food Consumption Patterns of Indian Adolescents in a Globalizing World

• In Event: 383 - Section on Consumers and Consumption Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Consumers and Consumption Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Food and Shopping

Abstract

Background: Globalization is changing food accessibility, but food consumption may not be uniform within societies, with differences between socio-economic groups and genders.

Objective: Describe food consumption patterns of adolescents in an urbanizing Indian city.

Methods: Representative sample of 400 adolescents, ages 13-16 years completed a food frequency questionnaire in developing Bijapur city, India. Weekly food consumption patterns were compared with dietary guidelines and examined using t-tests and multivariate linear regression.

Results: Commonly consumed foods (d/week) were tea/coffee (mean 5.5; range: 2.7-7), dairy (mean 5.0; range 2.2-6.8), packaged foods (mean 4.8; range 2.3-7), and non-green leafy vegetables (GLV) (mean 4.7; range 2.4-6.2). Private school students, generally of higher socio-economic status, reported significantly (p<0.05) higher consumption (d/week) of fruits (5.0 vs 2.7), fruit juice (1.3 vs .8), dairy (5.7 vs 4.7), homemade sweets (1.1 vs. 0.4), and more frequently added fat to food (3.8 vs. 2.0) than public-school students that reported significantly higher consumption of eggs (2.0 vs. 1.0), street food (1.3 vs. 0.8) and snack foods (1.5 vs. 0.8). Girls reported significantly higher consumption of packaged foods (5.1 vs. 4.5), non-GLV (5 vs. 4.3), ready-to-eat foods (1.5 vs. .8), and more frequently added fat (3.0 vs. 2.1) than boys, who reported significantly higher consumption of eggs (2 vs. 1.5) and street foods (1.5 vs 0.9).

Conclusions: Compared with recommended guidelines, adolescents have higher packaged foods and lower fruits and GLV intake. Frequent processed and packaged foods consumption mirrors urban Indian adolescents’ food consumption patterns and is alarming given emerging childhood obesity.

Authors

• Nida Shaikh, Emory University

• Shailaja Patil, BLDE University

• Shiva Halli, University of Manitoba

• Usha Ramakrishnan, Graduate Program in Nutrition and Health Sciences, Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences