Predictors of usage and fatty acid composition of cooking fats in Bogotá, Colombia.
OBJECTIVE
To examine correlates of home usage of commercially available cooking fats in Bogotá, Colombia and to determine their fatty acid composition.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Bogotá, Colombia.


METHODS
A representative sample of low- and middle-income families (n 2408).


RESULTS
The types of fat primarily used for cooking at home were mixed vegetable oils (66 %), sunflower oil (21 %) and other oils/fats including margarine (13 %). In multivariate analysis, usage of sunflower oil as the primary cooking fat was positively related to home ownership, age of the father and health as a reason for choosing the main cooking fat, and inversely associated with the number of people per room and an index of household food insecurity. The trans fat content of sunflower oil was unexpectedly higher (mean 4.2 %, range 2.2-8.6) than that of the vegetable mixture oils (mean 3.1 %, range 1.1-6.5).


CONCLUSIONS
Vegetable oils are the primary home cooking fats in Bogotá, Colombia. Higher socio-economic status is associated with usage of sunflower oil. Paradoxically, oblivious to the higher trans content of sunflower oil and the negligible amount of n-3 fatty acids, families commonly reported 'health' as a reason to choose sunflower over other oils.
Baylin
Ana
A
Department of Community Health, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA. ana_baylin@brown.edu
Mora-Plazas
Mercedes
M
Cobos-de Rangel
Olga
O
Lopez-Arana
Sandra
S
Campos
Hannia
H
Villamor
Eduardo
E
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002079:Butter / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia; D003296:Cooking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000032:analysis; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis
D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids; D002079:Butter