Organised By
Organised By
Dept of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Medical University
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the association between dried fruits intake and diet quality and macronutrients intake among Malaysian adults aged 18 to 59 years in Klang Valley. Subjects (N=70) were recruited from the International Medical University, Bukit Jalil. Macronutrients intake was assessed using 24-hour diet recall whereas a food frequency questionnaire captured the dried fruits intake. Diet quality was measured using a Healthy Eating Index for Malaysian adults.
RESULTS: Mean dried fruits intake was 36.87 ± 22.68 g. Overall, diet quality was poor and needed improvement with mean Healthy Eating Index score of 51.5 ± 9.7%. Median total energy intake was 1528 kcal and mean percentage of energy from carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake were 50.3%, 17.1%, and 32.6% respectively, whereas fibre intake was 13.2 g. There was no significant association between dried fruits intake with diet quality (r=0.02; p=0.869), carbohydrate (r=-0.15; p=0.215), fat (r=0.055; p=0.648), and dietary fibre (r=0.04; p=0.741) intakes. However, there was a significant association between dried fruits intake and protein intake (r=0.236; p=0.05).
CONCLUSION: Dried fruits intake was not significantly associated with diet quality and macronutrients intake among Malaysian adults in Klang Valley.
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: ChangSuiKiat@imu.edu.my
Keywords: Dried fruit, Diet quality, Macronutrient intake