Working Status, Social Eating and Diet Quality among the Indonesian Productive-Age Population: A Study of the Indonesian Food Barometer

Abstract:
The 2014 Total Diet Study reported that the dietary patterns among Indonesians remain inconsistent with the 2014 Balanced Nutrition Guidelines leading to low diet quality. Social eating has been shown to infl uence diet quality and may be infl uenced by working status. This study aims to determine the relationship between working status and social eating with diet quality among the productive-age population in Indonesia. This study employed a crosssectional approach using secondary data from the 2018 Indonesian Food Barometer, with a sample of 271 respondents (135 men and 136 women) aged bigger than18 years. Only subjects who completed 2x24 hr-recall were included in the study, while pregnant/breastfeeding women were excluded. Working status (defi ned as any income
generating activities) and social eating (indicated by eating location, meal preparation, eating activities, and eating companions), as well as sociodemographic information were collected by interview. Diet quality (indicated by Balanced Nutrition Index or Indeks Gizi Seimbang) was calculated from 2x24 hr recall. Chi-square test revealed that working status and social eating had no signifi cant relationship with diet quality. However, socioeconomic status had a relationship with diet quality (p = 0.026). Multivariate analysis further revealed that socioeconomic status was a dominant factor in diet quality among the productive-age population in Indonesia. Individuals with low socioeconomic status faced a 2.5-times higher risk of poor diet quality compared to those with high socioeconomic status.