Traditional Food Consumption in Andean Ecuador and Associated Consumer Characteristics, Shopping and Eating Habits

ABSTRACT

Traditional foods (TFs) hold increasing global relevance due to their potential to address health and dietary challenges. This study explores TF consumption and patterns in a middle-income country’s general population. Using 2017 Ecuadorian highlands survey data, we identified four consumption clusters with distinct TF preferences. Chi-square tests identified variations in independent variables across clusters. Poisson regression models highlighted city, age, education, and food habits as independent predictors of TF-based clusters. Our findings broaden TF importance to nutrition beyond specific populations. Understanding consumption patterns and socioeconomic links supports nuanced public health strategies to tackle contemporary health, social equity, and sustainability issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Agroecology
• consumer characteristics
• nutrition
• supermarket
• traditional food

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the survey participants, interviewers, and fellow members of the EKOMER project team, including (in alphabetic order) Marcelo Aizaga, Peter R. Berti, Ross M. Borja, Eliana Estrella, Sara Latorre, Pablo López, Fabián Muñoz, Pedro Oyarzun, Myriam Paredes, Bana Salameh, and Stephen Sherwood.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, G.A.-L., and M.B.; methodology, G.A.-L., and M.B.; software, G.A.-L.; validation, A.D., D.C.C., and M.B.; formal analysis, G.A.-L.; resources, EKOMER; data curation, G.A.-L.; writing – original draft preparation, G.A.-L.; writing – review and editing, G.A.-L., A.D., D.C.C., and M.B.; visualization, G.A.-L., A.D., D.C.C., and M.B.; supervision, M.B.; project administration, M.B., EKOMER; funding acquisition, EKOMER. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Development Research Centre under Grants CR-48490 and 109101-001; and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research under Grant 406536. M.B. is supported by the Canada Research Chair program. A.D. received general support from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé [Grant number 262314]. G.A.L. and A.D. received scholarships from Ekorural.