Estimating Dietary Intake from Grocery Shopping Data—A Comparative Validation of Relevant Indicators in Switzerland

In light of the globally increasing prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases, new scalable and non-invasive dietary monitoring techniques are urgently needed. Automatically collected digital receipts from loyalty cards hereby promise to serve as an objective and automatically traceable digital marker for individual food choice behavior and do not require users to manually log individual meal items. With the introduction of the General Data Privacy Regulation in the European Union, millions of consumers gained the right to access their shopping data in a machine-readable form, representing a historic chance to leverage shopping data for scalable monitoring of food choices. Multiple quantitative indicators for evaluating the nutritional quality of food shopping have been suggested, but so far, no comparison has validated the potential of these alternative indicators within a comparative setting. This manuscript thus represents the first study to compare the calibration capacity and to validate the discrimination potential of previously suggested food shopping quality indicators for the nutritional quality of shopped groceries, including the Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System Dietary Index (FSA-NPS DI), Grocery Purchase Quality Index-2016 (GPQI), Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), Healthy Trolley Index (HETI) and Healthy Purchase Index (HPI), checking if any of them performs differently from the others. The hypothesis is that some food shopping quality indicators outperform the others in calibrating and discriminating individual actual dietary intake. To assess the indicators’ potentials, 89 eligible participants completed a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and donated their digital receipts from the loyalty card programs of the two leading Swiss grocery retailers, which represent 70% of the national grocery market. Compared to absolute food and nutrient intake, correlations between density-based relative food and nutrient intake and food shopping data are stronger. The FSA-NPS DI has the best calibration and discrimination performance in classifying participants’ consumption of nutrients and food groups, and seems to be a superior indicator to estimate nutritional quality of a user’s diet based on digital receipts from grocery shopping in Switzerland.

Associations of Food and Nutrient Intake with Serum Hepcidin and the Risk of Gestational Iron-Deficiency Anemia among Pregnant Women: A Population-Based Study

Hepcidin is a regulator of iron metabolism. Diet affects the body’s iron status, but how it influences hepcidin concentrations and the risk of gestational iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) remains unclear. We investigated relationships of food and nutrient intake with serum hepcidin levels in relation to the iron status at a population scale. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted based on data obtained from the Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey in pregnant women, Taiwan (2017~2020). In total, 1430 pregnant women aged 20~45 years with a singleton pregnancy were included. Data from blood biochemistry, 24-h dietary recall, and a food frequency questionnaire were collected during a prenatal checkup. Adjusted multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were employed to measure the beta coefficient (ß) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of serum hepcidin and the odds ratio (OR) of IDA. In IDA women, serum hepcidin levels were positively correlated with the intake frequency of Chinese dim sum and related foods (β = 0.037 (95% CI = 0.015~0.058), p = 0.001) and dark leafy vegetables (β = 0.013 (0.001~0.025), p = 0.040), but they were negatively correlated with noodles and related products (β = −0.022 (−0.043~−0.001), p = 0.038). An adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that dietary protein [OR: 0.990 (0.981~1.000), p = 0.041], total fiber [OR: 0.975 (0.953~0.998), p = 0.031], and rice/rice porridge [OR: 1.007 (1.00~1.014), p = 0.041] predicted gestational IDA. Total carbohydrates [OR: 1.003 (1.000~1.006), p = 0.036], proteins [OR: 0.992 (0.985~0.999), p = 0.028], gourds/shoots/root vegetables [OR: 1.007 (0.092~1.010), p = 0.005], and to a lesser extent, savory and sweet glutinous rice products [OR: 0.069 (0.937~1.002), p = 0.067] and dark leafy vegetables [OR: 1.005 (0.999~1.011), p = 0.088] predicted IDA. The risk of IDA due to vegetable consumption decreased with an increasing vitamin C intake (p for trend = 0.024). Carbohydrates and vegetables may affect the gestational iron status through influencing hepcidin levels. Vitamin C may lower the risk of gestational IDA due to high vegetable consumption.

Association between diet quality index, food and nutrient intake, and metabolic parameters in adolescents from Recife, northeastern Brazil

Nutritional studies shifted the focus of attention to the analysis of food quality, addressing general diet considering the foods, food groups, and nutrients included. This study evaluates the association between diet quality index, food and nutrient intake, and metabolic parameters of adolescents from Recife, northeastern Brazil. It is a cross-sectional study involving adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. Food intake was assessed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire to estimate the adapted Diet Quality Index for Adolescents for Brazilians (DQIA-BR-A). The analysis included metabolic parameters (glucose, lipid profile, apolipoprotein A1 and B, 𝛼-1-acid glycoprotein, retinol, 𝛽-carotene, 𝛼-tocopherol, 25(OH)D, and parathormone). Multiple linear regression analysis between the DQIA-BR-A and daily nutrient intake showed a positive correlation (R2adjusted = 0.29) for linoleic fatty acid, calcium, and folate, and a negative correlation for oleic fatty acid, carbohydrates, and vitamin B2 and C, in addition to a low correlation (R2adjusted < 0.07) with all metabolic parameters. However, the DQIA-BR-A correlated significantly (R2adjusted = 0.62; p < 0.001) with food intake. In this way, the DQIA-BR-A can be considered as an accurate and useful instrument for assessing the overall quality of adolescent diets. The diet of the adolescents was considered to be of moderate quality. Changes are required to ensure a balanced diet, considering the high sugar intake and consumption of sweets as well as the low consumption of vegetables, milk and dairy products, oils, fats, and seeds. Such changes should prioritize the consumption of foods rich in essential fatty acids and poor in saturated fat.

Food and Nutrient Intake Pattern of Three Generations Living Together in Middle Income Urban Households of Delhi, India

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to assess the inter-generational differences in food and nutrient intake of three generations (grandparents, parents and children) living together. A cross-sectional survey assessed the food group and nutrient intake, changes in the intake over the years by using 24-hour dietary recall repeated over three days and focus group discussions. A total of 226 middle income families including 1,038 participants, grandparents (n=302), parents (n=423) and children (n=313) completed the diet survey. Focus group discussions with different generations explored the dietary transition over a period of time and the generation(s) responsible for menu related decisions. Children had significantly higher intake of cereals, other vegetables, sugars and fats as compared to their parents and grandparents (p<0.001) and highest mean percent adequacy of energy, protein and calcium (p<0.001). Information generated can be used to understand dynamics of food selection within a household and improve diet quality of all generations.