Validation of NOVA 27 ultra-processed food screener: adaptation and performance in Ecuador
Abstract Objective: This study aimed to adapt and validate the NOVA 27 ultra-processed food (UPF) Screener for use in Ecuador by identifying commonly consumed foods, classifying them using the NOVA system and testing the screener’s validity in an urban sample and a national food survey. Design:...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Public Health Nutrition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025100475/type/journal_article |
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| Summary: | Abstract
Objective:
This study aimed to adapt and validate the NOVA 27 ultra-processed food (UPF) Screener for use in Ecuador by identifying commonly consumed foods, classifying them using the NOVA system and testing the screener’s validity in an urban sample and a national food survey.
Design:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in two phases: screener validation with a convenience sample of 327 adults in Quito through an online questionnaire (2021) and assessment of its applicability using data from the 2012 Ecuadorian National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT-Ecu). The method, adapted from a similar study in Brazil, compared NOVA UPF scores to the 24 h-Recall (24-HR) automated multiple-pass method, used as the gold standard.
Setting:
The study included Quito’s urban population for validation and secondary data from ENSANUT-Ecu.
Participants:
Three hundred and twenty-seven adults aged 18–64 from Quito were included in the validation phase, and 3510 adults from the ENSANUT-Ecu dataset were analysed in the secondary analysis.
Results:
The screener adaptation identified twenty-seven subgroups of commonly consumed UPF, summarising 90 % of UPF energy intake. Validation results indicated significant agreement between the NOVA-UPF score and UPF intake, with PABAK indices above 0·8 for most socio-demographic groups. Higher NOVA-UPF scores corresponded to increased UPF dietary shares, mirroring patterns observed in the ENSANUT-Ecu dataset.
Conclusions:
The adapted NOVA 27 UPF Screener is a valid tool for assessing UPF intake in Ecuador, offering a practical resource for future dietary surveys to monitor and address UPF intake among Ecuadorian adults.
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| ISSN: | 1368-9800 1475-2727 |