Street food in Dushanbe, Tajikistan: availability and nutritional value.

Gabriela Albuquerque,Jo Jewell,Patrícia Padrão,Nuno Lunet,João Breda,Marcello Gelormini,Susana Casal,Albertino Damasceno,Olívia Pinho,Pedro Moreira,Inês Morais

doi:10.1017/s0007114519001892

Abstract

Street food is part of the culture in central Asia. Although nourishing food can be found, unhealthier options are becoming increasingly popular - a marker of nutrition transition. The nutritional composition of street food in urban settings is, however, unknown. The objective of the present study was, thus, to characterise the street food availability in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. A total of 800 street food vending sites in public markets were selected through random and systematic procedures. Trained interviewers collected data on vending sites' characteristics, location and food available. Samples of the most commonly available food were collected (ninety-nine homemade and thirty-five industrial). Macronutrients were quantified through proximate analysis. Fruit, drinks and food other than fruits were available, respectively, in 4·5, 40·5 and 87·4 %, of the vending sites. Among the latter, 63·6 % sold only homemade (e.g. bread, traditional dishes, snacks, pastries, sandwiches and cakes), 19·3 % only industrial (e.g. bread, snacks, pastries and cookies) and 17·1 % both types of food. Homemade food presented higher energy per serving compared with industrial food (median 452 v. 276 kcal/serving (1891 v. 1155 kJ/serving); P < 0·001). A high content of SFA (soup: 10·9 g/serving) and trans-fatty acids (cakes: 1·8 g/serving) was also found in homemade food. However, industrial wafers showed the highest content of these fatty acids (12·9 g/serving and 2·5 g/serving, respectively). Soft drinks were available in 68·5 % of the vending sites selling beverages. Homemade and industrial street food, with heterogeneous nutritional value, were widely available in Dushanbe. Hence, policies promoting the availability of healthy food should be encouraged.

Highlights

Economic changes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), rooted in rapid urbanisation and globalisation, are generating dramatic shifts in the food supply level, through a processdenominated nutrition transition[1,2]
Street food in Dushanbe, Tajikistan food largely contributes to the total intake of fat, trans-fatty acids (TFA), salt and sugar[8], it is known that the nutritional composition of street food varies widely, depending on the ingredients used, preparation and food processing methods[8,9,10]
The tendency towards the higher prevalence of these unhealthy dietary habits in LMIC might have contributed to the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as obesity, over the last decades[1,11,12]

Summary

Introduction

Economic changes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), rooted in rapid urbanisation and globalisation, are generating dramatic shifts in the food supply level, through a processdenominated nutrition transition[1,2] Overall, these changes tend to lead to a ‘westernisation of the diet’ characterised by a decline in the consumption of non-processed or minimally processed food, nutritionally more dense (e.g. fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains) and a concomitant increase in the consumption of processed food, more likely to be energy dense, rich in fat, sugar and salt[2]. The objective of the present study was to characterise the street food environment in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, focusing on the vending places and their food available and to describe the nutritional composition of the most commonly available food

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion