Table 4

Mean dietary diversity score (DDS) and percent of adults having consumed an item from the food groups by ethnicity

Ethnicity

RSA

Black/African

Mixed ancestry

Indian/Asian

White

All

Sample size

1941

604

389

353

3287

Mean DDS

3.63 [C]

4.43 [B]

4.44 [B]

4.96 [A]

4.02

95% CI^a

3.55 - 3.71

4.30 - 4.56

4.29 - 4.58

4.82 - 5.10

3.96 - 4.07

Proportions of adults consuming at least one item from the following groups (CI^a):

1.Cereals/roots/tubers

100^b

100

100

99

99.7

100 - 100

99 - 100

99 - 100

99 - 100

99.5-99.9

2.Vitamin A rich fruit

17**

15

12

22

17

and vegetables

16 - 19

12 - 18

8 - 16

17 - 26

15 - 18

3.Other fruit- not vitamin A-rich

20***

22

37

48

25

18 - 21

19 - 25

33 - 42

43 - 54

24 - 27

4.Other vegetables- not vitamin A-rich

47***

58

49

71

52

45 - 50

54 - 62

43 - 55

66 - 76

50 - 54

5.Legumes & nuts

19***

17

20

9

18

17 - 20

14 - 20

16 - 24

6 - 12

16 - 19

6.Fats & oils

32*** 29 - 34

54 49 - 59

42 35 - 48

43 37 - 50

38 36 - 40

7. Meat/poultry/fish

69***

89

90

94

78

67 - 72

86 - 92

87 - 93

92 - 97

77 - 80

8.Dairy

43***

69

80

86

56

40 - 45

64 - 73

76 - 85

82 - 90

55 - 58

9. Eggs

17**

20

14

23

18

15 - 18

17 - 23

10 - 17

18 - 28

16 - 19

^a CI= Confidence interval- selected because of data being stratified; ^b 99 = 99% and 100 = 100% of people consumed from the cereal group

[A]; [B] and [C]: different symbols indicate which mean DDS values (comparing the four ethnic groups) are significantly different,

Bonferroni multiple comparison test, p < 0.05

**Significant relationship between ethnic groups and whether or not subjects consume food from a specific group, Chi-square test, p < 0.01.

***Significant relationship between ethnic groups and whether or not subjects consume food from a specific group, Chi-square test, p < 0.0001.

Labadarios et al. Nutrition Journal 2011 10:33   doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-33