title: Nutritional contribution of street foods to the diet of people in developing countries: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review studies examining the nutritional value of street foods and their contribution to the diet of consumers in developing countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Proquest Health and Science Direct were searched for articles on street foods in developing countries that included findings on nutritional value.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of 639 articles, twenty-three studies were retained since they met the inclusion criteria. In summary, daily energy intake from street foods in adults ranged from 13 % to 50 % of energy and in children from 13 % to 40 % of energy. Although the amounts differed from place to place, even at the lowest values of the percentage of energy intake range, energy from street foods made a significant contribution to the diet. Furthermore, the majority of studies suggest that street foods contributed significantly to the daily intake of protein, often at 50 % of the RDA. The data on fat and carbohydrate intakes are of some concern because of the assumed high contribution of street foods to the total intakes of fat, trans-fat, salt and sugar in numerous studies and their possible role in the development of obesity and non-communicable diseases. Few studies have provided data on the intake of micronutrients, but these tended to be high for Fe and vitamin A while low for Ca and thiamin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Street foods make a significant contribution to energy and protein intakes of people in developing countries and their use should be encouraged if they are healthy traditional foods.
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for the Study of Social and Environmental Determinants of Nutrition, Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation, Human Sciences Research Council, PO Bag X9182, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
authors.forename: Nelia Patricia
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Steyn
authors.affiliation: 2 Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle Unit, Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Zandile
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: McHiza
authors.affiliation: 2 Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle Unit, Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: 3 Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery, Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Yul Derek
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Davids
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Venter
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Enid
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hinrichsen
authors.affiliation: 5 Functional Foods Research Unit, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa.
authors.forename: Maretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Opperman
authors.affiliation: 6 Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII), Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rumbelow
authors.affiliation: 7 Economic Performance and Development, Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D004032:Diet; D057140:Fast Foods; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D009753:Nutritive Value