Table 2.

Food group factor loadings by principal component analysis (PCA)-derived dietary pattern by age group comparison and country

Food groups	Women of reproductive age				Older women
	Ghana		Malawi		Ghana			Tanzania
	Protein	Healthy	Protein	Healthy	Cereal	Protein	Healthy	Protein	Healthy
Cereals and grains	0·45*	–0·09	–	–	0·67*	0·07	–0·02	0·03	0·29*
Roots and tubers	–	–	0·31*	0·04	–	–	–	0·14	0·30*
Legumes and pulses†	0·32*	0·12	–0·04	0·39*	–0·14	0·52*	0·14	–	–
Nuts and seeds‡	0·13	0·48*	0·28*	–0·11	–	–	–	–0·06	0·47*
Dairy	–	–	0·49*	–0·04	–	–	–	0·44*	–0·08
Red meat	0·23	0·16	0·32*	0·03	–0·09	0·43*	0·12	0·38*	–0·09
Chicken	0·43*	–0·10	–0·07	0·36*	0·12	0·53*	–0·03	0·37*	0·01
Liver	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0·16	0·19
Fish	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0·09	0·34*
Eggs	0·23	0·33*	0·28*	0·08	0·16	0·00	0·57*	0·37*	0·02
Dark green leafy vegetables	–0·14	0·54*	–	–	–0·16	–0·03	0·65*	–0·14	0·37*
Vitamin A-rich vegetables§	–	–	–0·04	0·32*	–	–	–	0·18	0·10
Vitamin A-rich fruits	–	–	0·25*	0·04	–	–	–	–0·08	0·45*
Other fruits	–0·06	0·55*	–0·03	0·52*	0·20	0·09	0·41*	0·15	0·16
Other vegetables	–	–	0·00	0·43*	–	–	–	–	–
Oils and fats║	0·43*	0·07	–	–	–	–	–	0·13	0·16
Savoury and fried snacks	0·41*	–0·12	0·19	0·37*	0·06	0·50*	–0·25*	0·10	0·19
Sweets	–	–	0·33*	0·02	–	–	–	–	–
Sugar-sweetened beverages	–	–	0·43*	–0·04	0·65*	–0·08	0·00	0·29*	0·02
Tea	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0·39*	–0·05

–, Food group was not available and therefore was not included in the PCA.

^*Food group with minimum absolute factor loading ≥0·25 characterising the dietary pattern.

^†In Ghana, legumes and pulses consisted only of beans.

^‡In Ghana, nuts and seeds consisted only of groundnuts.

^§In Tanzania, vitamin A-rich vegetables consisted only of carrots.

^║In Ghana, oils and fats consisted only of butter.