Macronutrient composition of street food in Central Asia: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Perception and attitudes of street food vendors toward the healthiness of meals prepared and sold in Dodoma

Consumption of street meals among urban dwellers has become inevitable, especially in low- and middle-income countries. It has been linked to higher incidence of dietary-related diseases. Vendors' perceptions and attitudes toward the healthiness of meals can influence nutritional quality of the offered meals. Therefore, the study aimed to assess perceptions and attitudes of vendors toward healthy and unhealthy meals as well as the healthiness of meals they prepare and sell. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 street food vendors. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using semistructured questionnaire. Pearson Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used in comparing and testing for the association of perceptions and attitudes to vendors' characteristics. Street food vendors that took part in this study demonstrated good perceptions based on what they perceived to be healthy meals (58.33%) and positive attitudes (95.57%) toward preparation and provision of healthy meals. Perceptions were associated with sex (p = .007), education level (p = .002), and investment cost (p = .000). Results from logistic regression showed that better perceptions of healthy meals were associated with being female (OR = 2.46, p-value < .031), having higher education (OR = 11.88, p-value < .042), and vending experience of 1-5 years and more than 5 years (OR = 3.17, 2.95, p-value < .019, .039, respectively) while having moderate investment cost showed significant lower chances of having better perceptions (OR = 0.33, p-value < .001). Attitudes were associated with sex (p = .002), age (p = .002), marital status (p = .013), education (p = .009), and vending experience (p = .008). Female vendors, having 25 years of age and above, living with partners, with tertiary education, and having vending experience of more than 1 year had shown to have more positive attitudes toward healthy meals. Generally, street food vendors had good perceptions and attitudes toward healthy meals. This implies possible room for change and adoption of better ways of preparing meals. These findings could be used as a stepping stone in improving nutritional and healthy quality of street meals. Increased efforts are needed on the inclusion of nutritional aspects of healthy meals as they were merely considered by vendors. Future interventions on these vendors should focus more on male vendors, vendors with little vending experience, and little education as they had shown to have relatively poorer attitudes and perceptions compared to other groups.

Fatty Acid Composition of Selected Street Foods Commonly Available in Malaysia

Despite growing evidence of increased saturated and trans fat contents in street foods, little is known about their fatty acid (FA) compositions. This study aimed to analyse the saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and trans fatty acids (TFAs) content of 70 selected and most commonly available street foods in Malaysia. The street foods were categorised into main meals, snacks, and desserts. TFAs were not detected in any of the street foods. Descriptively, all three categories mainly contained SFAs, followed by MUFAs, and PUFAs. However, the one-way ANOVA testing showed that the differences between each category were insignificant (p > 0.05), and each FA was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from one to another. Nearly half of the deep-fried street foods contained medium to high SFAs content (1.7 g/100 g–24.3 g/100 g), while the MUFAs were also high (32.0–44.4%). The Chi-square test of association showed that the type of preparation methods (low or high fat) used was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with the number of SFAs. These findings provide valuable information about fat composition in local street foods for the Malaysian Food Composition Database and highlight the urgency to improve nutritional composition.

Patterns of Street Food Purchase in Cities From Central Asia

Street food makes a significant contribution to the diet of many dwellers in low- and middle-income countries and its trade is a well-developed activity in the central Asian region. However, data on its purchase and nutritional value is still scarce. This study aimed to describe street food purchasing patterns in central Asia, according to time and place of purchase. A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016/2017 in the main urban areas of four central Asian countries: Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Street food markets (n = 34) and vending sites (n = 390) were selected by random and systematic sampling procedures. Data on the purchased foods and beverages were collected by direct observation. Time and geographic location of the purchases was registered, and their nutritional composition was estimated. A total of 714 customers, who bought 852 foods, were observed. Customers' influx, buying rate and purchase of industrial food were higher in city centers compared to the outskirts (median: 4.0 vs. 2.0 customers/10 min, p < 0.001; 5.0 vs. 2.0 food items/10 min, p < 0.001; 36.2 vs. 28.7%, p = 0.004). Tea, coffee, bread and savory pastries were most frequently purchased in the early morning, bread, main dishes and savory pastries during lunchtime, and industrial products in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon periods. Energy and macronutrient density was highest at 11:00–12:00 and lowest at 09:00–10:00. Purchases were smaller but more energy-dense in city centers, and higher in saturated and trans-fat in the peripheries. This work provides an overview of the street food buying habits in these cities, which in turn reflect local food culture. These findings from the main urban areas of four low- and middle-income countries which are currently under nutrition transition can be useful when designing public health interventions customized to the specificities of these food environments and their customers.

Availability and Nutritional Composition of Street Food in Urban Central Asia: Findings From Almaty, Kazakhstan

Objective: To describe the availability and nutritional composition of commonly available street foods in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Methods: 384 street food vending sites (in 10 public markets) were assessed; information on vending sites' characteristics and food availability and samples of the most commonly available street foods (81 homemade; 40 industrial) were collected for chemical analysis. Results: Fruit, beverages and food other than fruit were available in 1.0%, 47.4% and 92.7% of all vending sites. Homemade food other than fruit (e.g., bread, main dishes, snacks, pastries, sandwiches, and cakes) were available in 63.4% of stationary vending sites, while industrial (e.g., snacks, chocolate, cakes, and cookies) in 45.6% of them. Industrial foods were the most energy-dense [median kcal/100 g: 438.8 vs. 267.2, p < 0.001 (homemade)]. Traditional homemade dishes were high in sodium, reaching 2,248 mg/serving (lagman) and major contributors of protein and fat to energy content (shashlik: 22.8% from protein, 68.3% from fat). Industrial chocolate and homemade cake presented the highest saturated (14.6 g/serving) and trans-fat (3.20 g/serving) contents. Conclusion: These findings advocate for the implementation of health promotion strategies targeted at vendors, consumers and other stakeholders.

Street Food in Maputo, Mozambique: The Coexistence of Minimally Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods in a Country under Nutrition Transition

The aim was to characterise the extent of processing and nutritional composition of the street foods offered in Maputo, Mozambique. A cross-sectional study was conducted in October-November 2014 in the urban district of KaMpfumu. Twenty public transport stops were randomly selected, around which 500 meters buffers were drawn. All streets within these buffers were canvassed to identify all street food vending sites. Street food offer was assessed through interviews. Nutritional composition was estimated using standardised recipes (for homemade foods), food labels (for industrial products) and food composition tables (for in natura foods). The processing extent was classified using the "NOVA" food classification. A total of 810 vending sites were assessed. Unprocessed/minimally processed foods were available at 70.5% of vending sites (mainly fruit, water, and tea) and ultra-processed foods at 59.0% (mostly cakes, cookies, confectionery, and soft drinks). Energy content per 100 g of unprocessed or minimally processed foods was significantly lower than in all other food groups. In all food groups, contribution to total energy value was highest for carbohydrates (range: 33.1-51.2%), followed by fats (range: 29.3-36.0%) and protein (range: 6.8-18.6%). Public health policies targeting the improvement of this urban food environment should consider not only the nutritional composition but also the processing extent of the foods and beverages available.

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Street Foods Purchased by Customers in Urban Areas of Central Asia

This study aimed to describe street food purchases in cities from Central Asia, considering customers' characteristics and the nutritional composition of the foods and beverages. Cross-sectional studies were conducted in 2016/2017 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Direct observation was used to collect data on the purchases made by street food customers, selected by random and systematic sampling. Nutritional composition was estimated using data from chemical analyses, food composition tables or food labels. A total of 714 customers (56.6% females, 55.5% aged ≥35 years, 23.3% overweight/obese) were observed, who bought 852 foods and beverages, the most frequent being savoury pastries/snacks (23.2%), main dishes (19.0%), sweet pastries/confectionery (17.9%), tea/coffee (11.3%) and soft drinks/juices (9.8%). Fruit was the least purchased food (1.1%). Nearly one-third of customers purchased industrial food items (31.9%). The median energy content of a street food purchase was 529 kcal/serving. Saturated and trans-fat median contents were 4.7 g/serving and 0.36 g/serving (21.4% and 16.5% of maximum daily intake recommendations, respectively). Median sodium and potassium contents were 745 mg/serving (37.3% of maximum recommendation) and 304 mg/serving (8.7% of minimum recommendation), respectively. In general, the purchases observed presented high contents of energy, saturated-fat, trans-fat and sodium, and low levels of potassium. Policies towards the improvement of these urban food environments should be encouraged.

The Price of Homemade Street Food in Central Asia and Eastern Europe: Is There a Relation with Its Nutritional Value?

The aim was to describe the price of homemade street foods in four cities of Central Asia and Eastern Europe and to analyze its association with energy density, macronutrients, sodium and potassium contents. Cross-sectional evaluations of street food vending sites were conducted in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (n = 562), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (n = 384), Almaty, Kazakhstan (n = 236) and Chișinău, Moldova (n = 89) in 2016-2017. Information on the homemade street foods available, including price, was systematically collected; the most commonly available foods (n = 64) were sampled for chemical analysis. Prices were converted to international dollars ($) and expressed as $/serving, $/100 g and $/100 kcal. The median street food price was $1.00/serving, $0.85/100 g and $0.33/100 kcal. Traditional foods were cheaper per 100 g than the westernized ($0.77 vs. $1.00, p = 0.011). For each unit increase in energy density (kcal/g), the homemade street foods were $0.12 cheaper per 100 kcal and $0.11 more expensive per 100 g. The carbohydrate content was negatively associated with price per 100 kcal, while total fat, monounsaturated, saturated and trans-fatty acids content were positively associated with price per 100 g. Energy-dense homemade street foods were the cheapest. Further insight on food preparation might clarify the association between carbohydrates and monounsaturated fatty acids content and street food price.