Description
INTRODUCTION: Worldwide dietary data for nutrition monitoring and surveillance are commonly derived from Food Balance Sheets (FBS) and Household Budget Surveys (HBS).
OBJECTIVES: To identify and monitor dietary patterns in six countries surrounding the Black Sea (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) based on comparable data and to explore possible effects on mortality rates in the region.
METHOD/DESIGN: In the context of the Sustainable exploitation of bioactive components from the Black Sea Area traditional foods (BaSeFood) project, food supply data from FBS, food availability data from HBS and age-standardised mortality rates from the WHO database were retrieved and analysed.
RESULTS: Both food supply and availability data indicate plant-based dietary patterns in the area, with cereals and cereal products, fruits, vegetables and vegetable oils being mostly consumed. Nonetheless, the availability of staple plant foods decreased in years following political changes in the region. Due to religious and other cultural norms, pork meat is preferred in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine; poultry in Turkey; and, beef in the Russian Federation and Georgia. With respect to socio-economic inequalities, HBS data of the last decade clearly indicate the high dependence of diet on the participants’ residential area, educational attainment and income. Mortality indices retrieved from the WHO databases show that diseases of the circulatory system are the main cause of death in the region, with rates being substantially higher than the EU averages.
CONCLUSIONS: The change in the regime, the economic crisis following the USSR dissolution in 1991 and the opening of the food market have largely affected the population dietary choices and mortality rates. Targeted public health nutrition policies encouraging the consumption of health promoting traditional foods particularly among individuals of low socio-economic status are in need in the region.
; Sanches-Silva, A. 
