Nutritional profile and energy density evaluation of common traditional meals in Arabic Gulf region.

Abstract

This study aims to describe the energy and nutritional profile of common traditional meals in Arabic Gulf countries and extrapolate the usefulness of evaluating their energy density (ED) level. An analysis of 155 traditional meals commonly consumed in Arabic Gulf region was performed. The meals were categorized into four ED levels based on energy content as kcal per gram of meal weight. The meals were further classified according to their usual consumption pattern for the analysis. The average percentage of macronutrient composition of the meals was 50% as carbohydrate (CHO), 18% as protein and 32% as fat. The majority of the meals were categorized as moderate energy density (MED) (55%) and about 38% of them were categorized as low energy density (LED), whereas less than 8% of the foods were categorized either as very low energy density (VLED) or high energy density (HED). ED value (kcal/g) for sweets (SW) was the highest (2.9 ± 1.3, Mean ± SD) compared to appetizers (APT) (1.9 ± 0.9), main dishes (MD) (1.7 ± 0.9), and side dishes (SD) (1.8 ± 0.9). A negative correlation (p=0.000) between moisture content and ED was found in all meal types. A significant positive correlation (p<0.05) was found between CHO content and ED of all meal types except MD. Protein and fat contents positively correlated with ED in all meal types. The study illustrates that the number of HED meals among the common traditional meals in Arabian Gulf region is very limited. The data also suggest that common traditional meals in Arabic Gulf region can be part of a balanced diet to control energy intake if sweets consumption has been avoided.