Social Eating Role in Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Among Urban Young Adults: The 2018 Indonesian Food Barometer

Abstract
This study investigated the differences in ultra-processed food (UPF), fruit, vegetable, and total fat consumption in different aspects of social eating among urban young adults. This cross-sectional study used the 2018 Indonesian Food Barometer dataset with 180 participants aged 18–25 years living in urban areas from 6 provinces in Indonesia. The data on social eating (cooking habits, eating out, and eating alone), UPF, fruits, and vegetables were obtained from an extended 24-hour food recall interview. The Mann-Whitney U test (CI 95%) was employed for data analysis. This study found that groups with less frequent cooking habits tended to have more total energy intake, fat intake, and total energy from UPF (p-value small than 0.05). The more frequent eating out habit was related
to the lower vegetable intake (p-value small than small than 0.05). The more frequent eating out habit was related to the lower vegetable intake (p-value small than 0.05). This study provided relevant evidence to better understand the social and behavioral aspects of eating and its implications for public health nutrition. Extensive studies are needed to analyze the nutritional profile of frequently consumed UPF in Indonesia to provide insight into the condition of the food environment, thus relevant as a basis for policy limiting sugar, fat, and salt intake.