Abstract
This study aimed to describe street food purchases in cities from Central Asia, considering customers’ characteristics and the nutritional composition of the foods and beverages. Cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2016/2017 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Direct observation was used to collect data on the purchases made by street food customers, selected by random and systematic sampling. Nutritional composition was estimated using data from chemical analyses, food composition tables or food labels. A total of 714 customers (56.6% females, 55.5% aged ≥35 years, 23.3% overweight/obese) were observed, who bought 852 foods and beverages, the most frequent being savoury pastries/snacks (23.2%), main dishes (19.0%), sweet pastries/confectionery (17.9%), tea/coffee (11.3%) and soft drinks/juices (9.8%). Fruit was the least purchased food (1.1%). Nearly one-third of customers purchased industrial food items (31.9%). The median energy content of a street food purchase was 529 kcal/serving. Saturated and trans-fat median contents were 4.7 g/serving and 0.36 g/serving (21.4% and 16.5% of maximum daily intake recommendations, respectively). Median sodium and potassium contents were 745 mg/serving (37.3% of maximum recommendation) and 304 mg/serving (8.7% of minimum recommendation), respectively. In general, the purchases observed presented high contents of energy, saturated-fat, trans-fat and sodium, and low levels of potassium. Policies towards the improvement of these urban food environments should be encouraged.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the first cause of mortality and disability in the world, and more than three-quarters of the NCD deaths (32 million) occur in lowand middle-income countries (LMIC) [1]
Most customers purchased only homemade food items (68.1%), nearly one-third purchased at least one industrial food or beverage (31.9%); this proportion was highest in Kazakhstan (43.2%) (Table 1)
This study reports on relevant and innovative data regarding street food purchase and nutritional composition in four urban areas of Central Asia
Summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the first cause of mortality and disability in the world, and more than three-quarters of the NCD deaths (32 million) occur in lowand middle-income countries (LMIC) [1]. The prevalence of obesity has been rising rapidly in this region, with a rate of increase between 2010 and 2016 ranging from 3.2% per year in Kazakhstan to 4.7% per year in Tajikistan. In 2016, obesity affected 12.6% of adults in Tajikistan, 15.4% in Kyrgyzstan, 17.5% in Turkmenistan and 21.3% in Kazakhstan [3]. The increasing prevalence of diet-related NCD in LMIC has been concurrent with the westernization of food habits and closely related to economic growth, rapid urbanization and globalization of the food supply [4,5]. Sodium intake is high, corresponding to approximately three times the recommended amount [2]. These nutritional and epidemiological changes are expected to be even more pronounced in the most urbanized areas [7]
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