The French West Indian nutrition transition determinants

To address the increasing prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases in the French West Indies, it is important to study the mechanisms of the nutrition transition. Over 10 years, we have observed that the nutritional status and the diet quality have deteriorated and that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has increased. However, it was weakly explained by the ageing of the population and the increase in the education level. Currently, four food profiles coexist: "healthy", "traditional" which persists among older people while being abandoned among younger people in favour of "convenient", and "transitioning" where traditional and modern foods coexist. Furthermore, per capita imports of animal proteins, saturated fatty acids and sugars increased between 1995 and 2016, particularly those from UPF. Also, although overall fibre imports per capita have decreased, those from UPF have increased. Thus, our results underline that the French West Indian nutrition transition is advanced but still ongoing, whose main determinants are the key elements of French West Indian economic development (income, urbanization, and retail expansion), which have influenced the nutritional content of imports. (C) 2021 Societe francaise de nutrition. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.