Table 5.

Using the healthy diet indicator 2020 to assess the probability of low and high ultra-processed foods (UPF) consumers meeting WHO and other international dietary guidelines

					Panel A								Panel B
		Dietary element	Criteria for scoring (quantitative intake in one day)	n†	Meets guideline				Does not meet guideline								P-value*
					n	%	Mean	s e	n	%	Mean	se	Predicted probability of meeting guideline if low UPF consumer‡		Predicted probability of meeting guideline if high UPF consumer‡
													%	se	%	se
Dietary components to limit	1	Total fat	<30 % total energy	2111	1437	68·07	39·44	0·59	674	31·93	85·49	1·63	78·59	1·80	52·40	2·22	<0·001*
	2	Saturated fat	<10 % total energy	2111	1698	80·44	11·63	0·17	413	19·56	31·06	0·82	88·89	1·38	66·34	2·11	<0·001*
	3	Dietary Na	<2000 mg sodium	2111	1535	72·71	1001·80	14·24	576	27·29	3290·02	66·29	97·88	0·61	25·00	1·94	<0·001*
	4a	Free (added) sugars (24-h recall)	<10 % total energy	2111	1732	82·05	12·86	0·40	379	17·95	67·00	2·05	79·77	1·73	83·71	1·67	0·109
	4b	Free sugars (DQ-Q)	<10 % total energy	2111	1209	57·27	22·09	0·83	902	42·73	23·24	1·13	79·76	1·80	40·35	2·13	<0·001*
	5	Processed meat	0 g	2111	1680	79·58	0·00	0·00	431	20·42	103·63	5·01	94·21	0·98	60·86	2·19	<0·001*
	6	Unprocessed red meat	≤71 g	2111	1834	86·88	1·96	0·26	277	13·12	189·25	8·09	87·72	1·46	84·66	1·56	0·156
Dietary components to encourage	7	Fruits and vegetables	≥400 g	2111	148	7·01	589·65	18·84	1963	92·99	93·86	2·26	7·49	1·19	6·82	1·07	0·678
	8	Beans and other legumes	>0 g	2111	98	4·64	99·62	7·96	2013	95·36	0·00	0·00	7·34	1·16	2·95	0·73	0·002*
	9	Nuts and seeds	>0 g	2111	153	7·25	29·27	1·65	1958	92·75	0·00	0·00	1·46	0·52	12·26	1·48	<0·001*
	10	Whole grains	>0 g	2111	329	15·59	167·25	9·58	1782	84·41	0·00	0·00	10·15	1·31	17·32	1·70	0·001*
	11	Dietary fibre	>25 g	2111	396	18·76	34·72	0·54	1715	81·24	13·91	0·14	15·06	1·56	26·56	1·96	<0·001*

UPF,ultra-processed foods.

^*Logistic regression analysis performed to calculate the probability of meeting dietary guidelines by quartile of UPF intake. Adjusted for age, sex, household income and area of residence. Level of significance assumed at P < 0.05.

^†410 participants excluded from all analysis due to missing data on household income. For nutrient-specific evaluations, missing values in the South African food composition table resulted in an underestimate of compliance with guidelines. This was particularly pronounced for total and added sugar (see Appendix A and B for more details).

^‡Low UPF consumers are those with the lowest quartile of UPF consumption, and high UPF consumers are those with the highest quartile of UPF consumption.