Rural development and shifts in household dietary practices from 1999 to 2010 in the Tapajós River region, Brazilian Amazon: empirical evidence from dietary surveys.

Background: Research on changing dietary practices is rare in lower and middle income countries, and understanding the impact of global economic processes on population health and nutrition is important, especially of rural communities. We analyzed the diet of 22 families in Brasília Legal, a riverside community in the Tapajós River region of the Brazilian Amazon, using nonparametric tests to compare dietary surveys taken in 1999 and 2010.

Results: Data from the two surveys show that food obtained through commercial supply chains became more frequent in household diets, corresponding to significant increases in daily consumption of food items rich in energy, protein, and sugar.