To Örebro University

We updated a web-based dietary survey instrument (RiksmatenFlex, developed by the Swedish Food Agency) by extending it with culture-specific food items for two of the largest migrant populations living in Sweden.  After our diet inventory study, 78 out of 123 women continued and an additional 28 were recruited.  They were interviewed three times between May and December 2022.  On request, the 24-hour diet recalls (24hDR) were in Arabic. We hypothesized that our addition of culture-specific food items would make any between group difference in reported daily energy intake (DEI) smaller.

At least two of three 24hDR were completed by 35 women born in Sweden (SE), 30 born in Syria and Iraq (referred to as ‘Middle-Eastern’, ME) and 26 from Somalia (SO). The median (interquartile range) in DEI was 7.13 (5.81‑8.45), 5.52 (4.17‑7.21) and 5.65 (4.60‑7.47) MJ/d for SE, ME and SO respectively.  Of the 78 culture-specific foods added during the diet inventory study, 46 were reported. These foods were reported by 3 participants from the SE group, and by 29 (97%) and 22 (85%) of the ME and SO groups respectively. Among the ME and SO groups, culture-specific foods contributed maximally 75% to the reported DEI in a single 24hDR. Based on minimally two 24hDR, a median of 0%, 15% and 15% of the DEI was accounted for by these foods among SE, ME and SO groups respectively.

Reported DEI among ME and SO groups remained lower compared to the SE group. Factors other than culture-specific foods, such as weight consciousness, may have contributed to differences in reported DEI using RiksmatenFlex.