How do argentines eat? Consumption, gaps and diet quality

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the food consumption of the Argentine population, identify its main food gaps, determine its magnitude and intensity and analyze the resulting quality of diet. We analyzed the database of the National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo) 2017/2018. Purchase records of 383 food and beverages were extracted and analyzed; consumptions were expressed in energy and nutrients (SARA table) and Nutrient Density (IDN) measures and food gaps were calculated in relation to the recommendations of a healthy diet (average gap, magnitude of households with gaps and intensity of the gap). The dietary pattern found reflects low intakes of protective and preventive foods for chronic diseases and monotony of the diet. The gaps reflect deficits (average 60% ) in non-starchy vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains and whole grains, milk, yogurt and cheeses. Flour and other starchy products, occasional foods and meats register surplus gaps in households of all income levels, except for the 1st quintile in meats and occasional foods. Only 11% of households have a high quality of diet. All the results found are worse in the lowest income quintiles and in households with children and adolescents. The main conclusions refer to food monotony, wide gaps, its magnitude and intensity in foods with the best nutritional density and its expression in a barely intermediate quality of diet. The excess and imbalance in the intake of carbohydrates source foods, with an unfavourable balance towards legumes, grains and whole grains, as well as the excess of occasional foods and the need to reduce the high consumption of meat in large sectors of the population.