Living in Rural and Urban Areas of New Caledonia: Impact on Food Consumption, Sleep Duration and Anthropometric Parameters Among Melanesian Adolescents

Abstract

<jats:p>Background: Food consumption, sleep duration and overweight were assessed in rural and urban Melanesian adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 312 rural and 104 urban adolescents (11–16 years old) was conducted. Food intakes were assessed by a 26-item food frequency questionnaire and then categorised into the number of serves from each of the three recommended Pacific food groups (energy foods, protective foods, bodybuilding foods), with two additional categories for foods and drinks to be avoided i.e., processed foods and sugary drinks. Number of food serves were compared with the guidelines of 50% serves from energy foods, 35% serves from protective foods and 15% serves from bodybuilding foods. Sleep duration as hours per day was self-reported and body mass index (BMI) was calculated from measured weight and height. Results: Approximately 17.9% of rural and 26.9% of urban adolescents met the guidelines for energy foods; 61.5% rural and 69.2% urban met the serves for protective foods and 88.5% and 94.2% met the serves for bodybuilding foods. Less than 6.4% rural and 1.9% urban adolescents avoided processed foods but 61.5% rural and 56.7% urban avoided sugary beverages. Sleep duration for school days was below the international recommendations and did not significantly differ between rural and urban groups: respectively, 8.16 ± 1.10 and 8.31 ± 1.29 h. Overweight/obesity percentage was 38.1% for rural and 31.7% for urban adolescents. Conclusions: Although traditional foods, including protective food, are still part of the adolescents’ diet, low consumption of the energy food group and high consumption of processed food occurs regardless of location. As poor eating habits and insufficient sleep may contribute to overweight/obesity, educational nutrition programs should target these lifestyle variables.</jats:p>

Overweight in the pluri-ethnic adolescent population of New Caledonia: Dietary patterns, sleep duration and screen time

“…In rural areas, high scores for traditional ONENA Fruits and vegetables pattern and low scores for the Dairies and breakfast pattern were observed. These trends can be partly explained by the availability and affordability of these products [56] , [71] . Fruits and vegetables are commonly cultivated in rural areas by traditional Melanesian family farms or bigger European farms and thus are widely available and affordable.…”

“…The short questions on this FFQ are able to discriminate between different categories of food intake and provide information on relative intakes [54] . Moreover, this FFQ has been validated in a pluri-ethnic population composed with non-indigenous Australians (with European background) and Torres Strait Islanders (with a Melanesian background), and it was previously used in New Caledonia [56] . Minor modifications were made by the research team to include foods identified as important in the Melanesian diet.…”

The Design and Development of a Food Composition Database for an Electronic Tool to Assess Food Intake in New Caledonian Families

“…High unhealthy food consumption with 27% of daily food intake was recently observed in Melanesian adolescents from New Caledonia. These dietary changes might explain the high percentage of overweight and obesity (38.1% for rural and 31.7% for urban adolescents) observed in this study, therefore, further comprehensive investigation of dietary intakes is needed [ 16 ]. In the future, the food and nutrient data within this database will be validated, in the context of the iRecall.24 app against 24-h recalls in children and adults in New Caledonia.…”

“…In Pacific communities, overweight and NCD progression have been accelerated by transitioning food environments facilitated by globalization and trade [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] combined with a decline in local agricultural and fishery practices [ 15 ]. Consequently, traditional nutrient-dense plant-based diets, particularly starchy tuber staples [ 16 ], have been replaced with imported energy-dense nutrient-poor processed foods and convenience fast foods high in saturated fat, added sugar, and/or added salt [ 8 , 14 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, nutrition transitions are poorly captured [ 17 ], and there is little understanding about specific foods and nutrients consumed by the New Caledonian population in general, let alone by ethnicity and geographic location. Our recent studies showed that both in rural and urban areas of New Caledonia, processed food is omnipresent in the diets of Melanesian adolescents, and that high proportions of children are drinking sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) and energy drinks [ 16 , 18 , 19 ]. Trade data have revealed that SSBs [ 20 ] and processed foods make up the majority of imports to Pacific Island countries and territories [ 13 ] and New Caledonia [ 21 ].…”