The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam

Background: Economic reforms and trade liberalisation in Vaietnm have transformed the food environment, influencing dietary patterns and malnutrition status. The present study focuses on the relationship between food environments (proximity and density of food outlets) and malnutrition (underweight,...

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Main Authors: Vuong, Vy Thao, Fiorella, Kathryn J., Jones, Andrew D., Thi Trinh, Huong, Khoury, Colin K., Huynh, Tuyen, Hoang, Ky The, Nguyen, Kien Tri
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132291
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author Vuong, Vy Thao
Fiorella, Kathryn J.
Jones, Andrew D.
Thi Trinh, Huong
Khoury, Colin K.
Huynh, Tuyen
Hoang, Ky The
Nguyen, Kien Tri
author_browse Fiorella, Kathryn J.
Hoang, Ky The
Huynh, Tuyen
Jones, Andrew D.
Khoury, Colin K.
Nguyen, Kien Tri
Thi Trinh, Huong
Vuong, Vy Thao
author_facet Vuong, Vy Thao
Fiorella, Kathryn J.
Jones, Andrew D.
Thi Trinh, Huong
Khoury, Colin K.
Huynh, Tuyen
Hoang, Ky The
Nguyen, Kien Tri
author_sort Vuong, Vy Thao
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Background: Economic reforms and trade liberalisation in Vaietnm have transformed the food environment, influencing dietary patterns and malnutrition status. The present study focuses on the relationship between food environments (proximity and density of food outlets) and malnutrition (underweight, overweight, obesity) through diet quality in adult populations across urban, periurban and rural areas of Vietnam. Methods: We evaluated food environment by geospatial mapping of food outlets through a transect walk across the “food ecosystem” from rural to urban areas. Diet quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index – Vietnamese (DQI‐V) comprising Variety, Adequacy, Moderation and Balance components. Malnutrition status was determined using body mass index. We performed a mediation analysis utilising mixed effect models to control for neighbourhood clustering effects. Confounders included age, education, income and nutrition knowledge score. Results: Analysis of data from 595 adult participants (mean ± SD age: 31.2 ± 6.4 years; 50% female) found that longer distance to the nearest food outlet was associated with higher overall DQI‐V (β = 2.0; 95% confidence interval = 0.2–3.8; p = 0.036) and the Moderation component (β = 2.6; 95% confidence interval = 1.2–4.0; p = 0.001). Outlet density shows a negative association with the odds of underweight among women (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval = 0.37–0.96). However, we did not observe statistically significant relationships between diet quality and malnutrition. Education and nutrition knowledge scores were positively associated with diet diversity, while income was negatively associated with diet moderation. Conclusions: The findings of the present study have important implications for nutrition and dietetics practice in Vietnam and globally. It emphasises the need to consider various dimensions of sustainable diets, including economic, health and socio‐cultural/political factors. Longer distances to food outlets are associated with higher diet quality, whereas lower food outlet density increases the odds of underweight among women. This poses challenges in balancing modernisation and its adverse effects on sustainable food systems. Socio‐economic status consistently correlated with diet quality and malnutrition, necessitating further research to promote healthy diets across socio‐economic strata.
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spelling CGSpace1322912025-11-11T19:04:06Z The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam Vuong, Vy Thao Fiorella, Kathryn J. Jones, Andrew D. Thi Trinh, Huong Khoury, Colin K. Huynh, Tuyen Hoang, Ky The Nguyen, Kien Tri diet quality food environment low income groups malnutrition sustainable consumption dieta saludable entorno alimentario países en desarrollo-países del tercer mundo desnutrición sostenibilidad Background: Economic reforms and trade liberalisation in Vaietnm have transformed the food environment, influencing dietary patterns and malnutrition status. The present study focuses on the relationship between food environments (proximity and density of food outlets) and malnutrition (underweight, overweight, obesity) through diet quality in adult populations across urban, periurban and rural areas of Vietnam. Methods: We evaluated food environment by geospatial mapping of food outlets through a transect walk across the “food ecosystem” from rural to urban areas. Diet quality was assessed using the Diet Quality Index – Vietnamese (DQI‐V) comprising Variety, Adequacy, Moderation and Balance components. Malnutrition status was determined using body mass index. We performed a mediation analysis utilising mixed effect models to control for neighbourhood clustering effects. Confounders included age, education, income and nutrition knowledge score. Results: Analysis of data from 595 adult participants (mean ± SD age: 31.2 ± 6.4 years; 50% female) found that longer distance to the nearest food outlet was associated with higher overall DQI‐V (β = 2.0; 95% confidence interval = 0.2–3.8; p = 0.036) and the Moderation component (β = 2.6; 95% confidence interval = 1.2–4.0; p = 0.001). Outlet density shows a negative association with the odds of underweight among women (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval = 0.37–0.96). However, we did not observe statistically significant relationships between diet quality and malnutrition. Education and nutrition knowledge scores were positively associated with diet diversity, while income was negatively associated with diet moderation. Conclusions: The findings of the present study have important implications for nutrition and dietetics practice in Vietnam and globally. It emphasises the need to consider various dimensions of sustainable diets, including economic, health and socio‐cultural/political factors. Longer distances to food outlets are associated with higher diet quality, whereas lower food outlet density increases the odds of underweight among women. This poses challenges in balancing modernisation and its adverse effects on sustainable food systems. Socio‐economic status consistently correlated with diet quality and malnutrition, necessitating further research to promote healthy diets across socio‐economic strata. 2023-12 2023-10-17T12:08:07Z 2023-10-17T12:08:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132291 en Open Access application/pdf Wiley Vuong, V.T.; Fiorella, K.J.; Jones, A.D.; Thi Trinh, H.; Khoury, C.K.; Huynh, T.; Hoang, K.T.; Nguyen, K.T. (2023) The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics , Online first paper (2023-10-04). ISSN: 0952-3871
spellingShingle diet quality
food environment
low income groups
malnutrition
sustainable consumption
dieta saludable
entorno alimentario
países en desarrollo-países del tercer mundo
desnutrición
sostenibilidad
Vuong, Vy Thao
Fiorella, Kathryn J.
Jones, Andrew D.
Thi Trinh, Huong
Khoury, Colin K.
Huynh, Tuyen
Hoang, Ky The
Nguyen, Kien Tri
The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title_full The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title_fullStr The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title_full_unstemmed The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title_short The association between food environment, diet quality and malnutrition in low‐ and middle‐income adult populations across the rural—Urban gradient in Vietnam
title_sort association between food environment diet quality and malnutrition in low and middle income adult populations across the rural urban gradient in vietnam
topic diet quality
food environment
low income groups
malnutrition
sustainable consumption
dieta saludable
entorno alimentario
países en desarrollo-países del tercer mundo
desnutrición
sostenibilidad
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132291
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