235 Four dietary patterns identified among Ghanaian people living in New York City: a principal component analysis

Abstract EP1.4, e-Poster Terminal 1, September 4, 2025, 11:35 - 13:00 Aims To a) administer a culturally adapted Ghanaian food frequency questionnaire (GUSI-FFQ) among Ghanaian people in New York City (NYC), and b) identify dietary patterns using principal component analysis (PCA). Methods A convenience sample of Ghanaian immigrants (n = 96) completed the GUSI-FFQ. Intake of 26 food groups was assessed based on weekly consumption. PCA was applied to identify dietary patterns. Parallel analysis was conducted to determine the number of patterns to retain, with component loadings above 0.30 considered significant. Uniqueness scores assessed the proportion of variance unexplained by the extracted patterns. Results Four major dietary patterns were identified, explaining 40.3% of total variance in dietary intake. Pattern 1 (12.1% variance) was characterized by a high intake of cereals/grains, fruits, dairy, and cultural beverages. Pattern 2 (11.8%) was high in fast food, meat, dairy, and sweet snacks. Pattern 3 (8.3%) was associated with legumes, fish, and fresh juice. Pattern 4 (8.1%) included rice, red/orange vegetables, and unsweetened tea. Among the key food groups, uniqueness scores were lowest for legumes (0.331), fats/oil (0.445), dairy products (0.480), and fish/seafood (0.484), indicating that these foods were well captured within the identified patterns. Conversely, unsweetened/sweetened coffee, plantains/starch, nuts/seeds, and nutritional shakes had high uniqueness scores (>0.7), suggesting that their consumption varied more and was not strongly associated with any one pattern. Conclusions While additional dietary and lifestyle factors may contribute to eating behavior, these findings offer insight into differences in dietary patterns and potential variations of dietary acculturation among Ghanaian immigrants living in the US. Specific dietary patterns can inform culturally tailored interventions for chronic disease prevention. Funding Sources Professional Staff Congress, City University of New York Grant TRADA-53-281, and Tow Faculty Research and Creativity Grant, 2023.