(P24-047-23) Comparison of Percent Energy Contribution from Carbohydrates and Dietary Energy Density According to Food Security Status among Adults in CALABARZON Region, Philippines

Objectives: The objective of this study is to compare the percent energy contribution from carbohydrates and dietary energy density of adults according to food security status in CALABARZON Region, Philippines.

Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed the 8th National Nutrition Survey of the Philippines conducted in 2013 by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute. The included dataset for this study covered only all the non-pregnant, non-lactating adult respondents aged 20 years old and over who were able to complete the survey. Two-day non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls were completed. Household Food Security status was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, a non-parametric test, was performed to analyze the dataset to compare the percent energy contribution of carbohydrates and dietary energy density of adults living in food secure and food insecure households.

Results: The results indicate that the percent energy contribution from carbohydrates of individuals belonging to food insecure households was 71.75% (62.5-75.78%) which is significantly higher (p-value: < 0.0001) than those individuals living in food secure households having only 65.92 percent (59.31-72.86). The results further revealed that the median energy density of food insecure group was 2.38 (2.01-2.72), also significantly higher (p-value: 0.0084) than the food secure group with 2.21 (1.87-2.59).

Conclusions: The statistically significant difference pointed out that adults living in food insecure households consume a much more energy-dense diet as compared to the diet of adults belonging to food secure households. These findings may imply that most intake of adults from food insecure households consist of a diet rich in carbohydrates. This consequently supports the possibility that due to financial constraints, disadvantaged and low-income households opt for much more energy-dense foods, which are perceived to be more satisfying and has value for money.

Funding Sources: The primary author is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology - Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), University of the Philippines Manila - National Graduate Office for the Health Sciences (UPM-NGOHS) and Neys-Van Hoogstraten Foundation (NHF) for the research grants to support the implementation of this research study.