Proceedings of a roundtable event 'Workplace Diet and Health - priorities for researchers and practitioners'

A Clustering Study of Dietary Patterns and Physical Activity among Workers of the Uruguayan State Electrical Company

Recent studies have shown that certain nutrients, specific food groups, or general dietary patterns (DPs) can promote health and prevent noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCCDs). Both developed and developing countries experience a high prevalence of NCCDs due to poor lifestyle habits, DPs, and low physical activity levels. This study aims to examine the dietary, physical activity, sociodemographic, and lifestyle patterns of Uruguayan State Electrical Company workers (the IN-UTE study). A total of 2194 workers participated in the study, providing information about their sociodemographics, lifestyles, and dietary habits through different questionnaires. To identify DPs from 16 food groups, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. A hierarchical cluster algorithm was used to combine food groups and sociodemographic/lifestyle variables. Four DPs were extracted from the data; the first DP was related to the intake of energy-dense foods, the second DP to the characteristics of the job, the third DP to a Mediterranean-style diet, and the fourth DP to age and body mass index. In addition, cluster analysis involving a larger number of lifestyle variables produced similar results to the PCA. Lifestyle and sociodemographic factors, including night work, working outside, and moderate and intense PA, were significantly correlated with the dietary clusters, suggesting that working conditions, socioeconomic status, and PA may play an important role in determining DPs to some extent. Accordingly, these findings should be used to design lifestyle interventions to reverse the appearance of unhealthy DPs in the UTE population.

Development and assessment of relative validity and reliability of the Workplace Beverage Intake Questionnaire in UK office workers

BACKGROUND

There are no beverage measurement tools evaluated for use in UK working-age adults. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel beverage intake questionnaire.

METHODS

A 57-item online tool (Workplace Beverage Intake Questionnaire [WBIQ]) was developed through stakeholder consensus. Relative validity was measured against 7-day food records, and reliability was tested across three time points. Evaluation outcomes of interest were total beverage intake and beverage intake during working hours, intake from seven beverage categories (plain water, sugar sweetened, low/zero calorie, tea, coffee, milk based and 100% fruit based) and energy, caffeine and free sugar intake from beverages. Reliability was determined by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and validity via correlation analyses and visual assessment of Bland-Altman plots.

RESULTS

The evaluation study population comprised office workers (n = 71, 74.6% women, mean age: 32, standard deviation: 8.5 years). The WBIQ had moderate reliability (ICC: 0.50-0.75) across total fluid intake and all beverage categories except milk-based drinks and 100% fruit-based drinks where it was rated poor. Caffeine, free sugar and energy from beverages had poor-to-moderate reliability. Correlation coefficients were large (r > 0.50, p < 0.001) comparing diet records and WBIQ across all categories of beverage except low-/zero-calorie soft drinks (r = 0.34, p < 0.01). Bland-Altman plots showed a similar trend across all variables, with better agreements at lower intake and the absolute difference increasing proportionally at higher intakes. Over 90% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the tool was easy to navigate and understand.

CONCLUSIONS

The WBIQ is the first stage in the development of a tool for UK-specific beverage intake measurement in working-age adults. Further refinement and testing are required to improve reliability.