Dietary patterns in Uganda and their influencing factors: a critical review

Abstract

Improving the understanding of dietary patterns and underlying factors remains crucial in designing nutritional interventions and policy making. This review sought to provide a holistic picture of the studies covering dietary patterns in Uganda and the associated factors so as to identify gaps in existing literature and provide a basis for nutrition-sensitive interventions. A literature search for publications dating from March 2010 to 2021 was done using the terms dietary diversity, nutrient intake, food consumption and food choices in Uganda. Studies covering populations above 6 months of age, male and female, with exception of diseased populations, were screened. Because of the variability in the methodologies for assessment of dietary intake and dietary diversity, meta-analysis was not conducted. A total of 17,728 articles were found and 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. Nine of the 25 studies reported on dietary diversity indicators and their associated factors. The literature shows that diets in Uganda are mainly composed of starchy staples, especially cereals, roots, tubers and bananas, with legumes constituting the main protein source. The diets are characterized by low consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as animal protein sources. The share of food expenditure allocated to the different food groups corresponded to information on consumption for the different groups. Studies revealed that household food expenditure was higher among urban households, an observation attributable to their high reliance on food purchases to meet food requirements. The share of household expenditure on cereals and staples was reported to decrease with increasing wealth quantile and was lower among urban households. An opposite trend was reported for animal protein sources. Across the different studies, the mean dietary diversity score was above three (3). Nonetheless, intake of micronutrients and the mean dietary energy consumption (DEC) were reported to be lower than the daily recommended values. Given the lack of uniformity in the indicators across the different studies and differences in methodologies especially for dietary diversity scores, the existing research is inadequate for establishing quantitative evidence on the trends in dietary patterns and diversity, gender and age group differences in relation to dietary patterns. There is a need for highquality, nation-wide research using validated tools and methodologies to measure dietary patterns and trends and explore the relation to gender and age groups.