Assessment of the healthy dietary diversity of a main meal in a self-service restaurant
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a first proposal of a healthy dietary diversity index to evaluate meals in self-service restaurants. Design/methodology/approach – This was a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study in a Brazilian buffet-style restaurant. The study group was selecte...
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Published in | British food journal (1966) Vol. 117; no. 1; pp. 286 - 301 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Bradford
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
05.01.2015
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a first proposal of a healthy dietary diversity index to evaluate meals in self-service restaurants.
Design/methodology/approach
– This was a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study in a Brazilian buffet-style restaurant. The study group was selected by systematic sampling and consisted of 678 individuals aged 16-81 years, who were regular diners at a selected restaurant during lunchtime. Photographs were used to assess food choices and a sociodemographic questionnaire was administered to the subjects. A healthy dietary diversity model was created following WHO recommendations and the Brazilian Food Guide. A consensus workshop was conducted with experts to discuss and classify certain dishes as more or less healthy (high/low energy density). The model attributed negative (−3.0-0.0) and positive (0.0-12.0) scores to different food groups. Higher scores meant greater diversity on the plate, and therefore a greater chance of a healthy meal (=9.0), while a lower score reflected a higher variety of energy-dense foods, such as fried dishes (=6.0).
Findings
– Most diner’s plates (65.3 per cent) obtained low diversity score indexes (=6) and were considered inadequate, represented the dishes where intake should be controlled from a nutritional viewpoint (over caloric meal). There was a significant association between healthy diversity scores (=9.0) and low variety of high energy density dishes on the plates.
Originality/value
– This method of assessing the healthy dietary diversity of a main meal could be tested as an innovative model for investigating the food choices of individuals who eat away from home. |
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ISSN: | 0007-070X 1758-4108 |
DOI: | 10.1108/BFJ-08-2013-0215 |