Gersten Zachary P, Baylin Ana, Jansen Erica C, Sarpong Daniel B, Jones Andrew D
Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, United States; Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
J Nutr. 2025 Jun;155(6):1878-1885. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.04.003. Epub 2025 Apr 15.
Diets are changing in low- and middle-income countries in concert with the nutrition transition. National dietary patterns have yet to be established in Ghana, and previous studies present conflicting results on which patterns contain fish and seafood-a highly consumed and diverse food group.
We aimed to establish national food expenditure patterns in Ghana and assess their relationships with socioeconomic variables. We further sought to assess differences in these patterns after disaggregating fish and seafood into 10 subgroups.
We analyzed nationally representative cross-sectional household food expenditure and socioeconomic data from 13,782 households that were collected for 2016-2017 for the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey. We used principal component analysis to identify food expenditure patterns and multivariable regression models to explore relationships between patterns and household socioeconomic characteristics. We repeated the analysis after disaggregating fish and seafood into 10 subgroups using information on taxonomic population (e.g., species) and ecosystem source (e.g., marine or freshwater).
We found a "traditional" pattern of starchy staples, fruits, vegetables, and fish and seafood, a "processed foods" pattern of refined grains, processed meats, dairy, and sweets, and a "food away from home (FAFH)" pattern of mixed dishes prepared in restaurants. Head of household age, female sex, and households with a pregnant female or children <5 y were positively associated with the "traditional" pattern but negatively associated with the "FAFH" pattern. After disaggregating fish and seafood, we found that freshwater fishes loaded positively in the "traditional" pattern, and sardines, a canned marine fish, loaded positively in the "processed foods" pattern.
The 3 national food expenditure patterns, "traditional," "processed foods," and "FAFH," aligned with the nutrition transition. Disaggregating fish and seafood into subgroups yielded more specific information on the food expenditure patterns to which they belong.
随着营养转型，低收入和中等收入国家的饮食正在发生变化。加纳尚未确立全国性的饮食模式，先前的研究在哪些模式包含鱼类和海鲜（这是一类消费量大且种类多样的食物）方面给出了相互矛盾的结果。
我们旨在确立加纳的全国食物支出模式，并评估它们与社会经济变量之间的关系。我们还进一步试图在将鱼类和海鲜细分为10个亚组后，评估这些模式的差异。
我们分析了2016 - 2017年为第七轮加纳生活水平调查收集的来自13782户家庭的具有全国代表性的横断面家庭食物支出和社会经济数据。我们使用主成分分析来确定食物支出模式，并使用多变量回归模型来探索模式与家庭社会经济特征之间的关系。在利用分类群体（如物种）和生态系统来源（如海洋或淡水）信息将鱼类和海鲜细分为10个亚组后，我们重复了该分析。
我们发现了一种以淀粉类主食、水果、蔬菜以及鱼类和海鲜为主的“传统”模式，一种以精制谷物、加工肉类、乳制品和甜食为主的“加工食品”模式，以及一种以餐厅烹制的混合菜肴为主的“外出就餐（FAFH）”模式。户主年龄、女性以及有孕妇或5岁以下儿童的家庭与“传统”模式呈正相关，但与“外出就餐”模式呈负相关。在对鱼类和海鲜进行细分后，我们发现淡水鱼在“传统”模式中呈正相关，而沙丁鱼（一种罐装海鱼）在“加工食品”模式中呈正相关。
“传统”、“加工食品”和“外出就餐”这三种全国食物支出模式与营养转型相一致。将鱼类和海鲜细分为亚组产生了关于它们所属食物支出模式的更具体信息。
