Spectrum of food diversity of megapolis' inhabitants obtained by the analysis of buying activity

Abstract

The food diversity is a significant indicator of a healthy diet. The aim of the study was to assess the indicators of food diversity in the metropolis (Moscow) based on the analysis of consumer activity in a large retail chain. Material and methods. 201 904 holders of loyalty cards of the retail network were selected from the depersonalized purchase data for 2016-2018 according to the following selection criteria: the presence of a dense segment of purchases (more than 4 weeks, where there was at least 1 purchase in 2 weeks), where the total cost of purchases was at least 4700 rubles and at least 4 different products were purchased. From of these, 111 136 buyers have data available by gender, 43 046 by age. The classification of a set of purchased products and dishes by food groups was carried out, and complex dishes were transformed into a set of their ingredients and the distribution of the unique values of the corresponding food groups was carried out. Counting the number of unique preferences (count base diversity) by the number of positions in each of the 6 food groups (cereals, fish and meat, fat products, dairy products, vegetables, fruits and berries) allowed us to estimate the amount of food diversity. The total number of food categories in all subgroups was also calculated. Results. The low value of food diversity in the category of cereals and cereals was found in 2/3 of buyers, in the category of vegetables and fruits in 60% of buyers, in the category of meat and fish products in half of buyers, in the category of fat-and-oil products in 63.7% and in 44.2% of buyers of dairy products. An acceptable total number of categories of purchased products (more than 20 per week) was achieved only in 14.5% of men and 16.7% of women from our sample. In general, lower indicators of dietary diversity are typical for men and young people (up to 45 years old). Conclusion. Thus, it can be concluded that the importance of food diversity as a factor of health protection is underestimated by the population, especially by young people, which can lead to an increase in the burden on healthcare due to the earlier debut of a wide range of chronic diseases.