A systematic review of socioeconomic differences in food habits in Europe: consumption of cheese and milk

Abstract

Objective: To assess differences in cheese and milk consumption across socioeconomic groups in representative samples from several European countries. Design: A meta-analysis of published and unpublished surveys of food habits performed in nine European countries between 1985 and 1999. Educational and occupational levels were used as indicators of socio-economic status. Results: A higher socioeconomic status was associated with a greater consumption of cheese. The pooled estimate of the difference in cheese consumption between women in the highest vs the lowest educational level was 9.0 g/day (95% CI: 7.1 to 11.0). The parallel observation in men was 6.8 g/day (95% CI: 3.4 to 10.1). Similar results were obtained using occupation as an indicator of socioeconomic status. The pooled estimates of the higher cheese consumption among subjects belonging to the highest (vs the lowest) occupational level were 5.1 g/day (95% CI: 3.7 to 6.5) in women and 4.6 g/day (95% CI: 2.1 to 7.0) in men. No statistically significant associations were found for milk consumption concerning educational or occupational level. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that consumption of cheese is likely to be higher among subjects belonging to higher socioeconomic levels. We did not find enough evidence to support that milk intake is different according to educational or social levels. Sponsorship: FAIR-program of the European Union (project,.

Socio-economic indicators are independently associated with intake of animal foods in French adults

“…Our findings on the absence of a relationship between SEP indicators and cheese intake contrasted with a systematic review and meta-analysis showing a positive association between education or occupation and consumption of cheese; it also highlighted substantial heterogeneity in results across European countries (not including French data), emphasizing the importance of conducting country-specific research (50) . In addition, previous works that took several socio-economic indicators into account showed ambiguous results (13,19,22,39,51,52) .…”

Does Food Group Consumption Vary by Differences in Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Lifestyle Factors in Young Adults? The Bogalusa Heart Study

“…Similar findings from previous research have been reported; individuals with a lower socioeconomic status had a higher consumption level of potatoes, meat products, visible fats, and soft drinks (11); another study reported higher consumption of chips, soda, white bread, processed meats, full-fat dairy products, and sugar in women with a lower socioeconomic status (15). In contrast, individuals belonging to higher socioeconomic status groups were observed to have more consumption of whole grains (15), fruits/vegetables (11,15), and dairy products (11)(12)(13)15). It has been hypothesized that the relationship between higher socioeconomic status and more healthful food consumption could be due to the knowledge and health awareness that individuals may acquire with higher socioeconomic status, or increased pressures of social acceptability that occur with increasing socioeconomic status and these factors may influence their food consumption habits (53).…”

“…Also, the high intercorrelation among some nutrients (34) and complicated interactions among nutrients (35) makes it more difficult to assess the influence of socioeconomic status on dietary (nutrient) intakes. Furthermore, reported results of the role of socioeconomic status/ cost of foods on dietary intakes have been conflicting, with a majority of the research showing a positive connection (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(14)(15)(16), and a minority reporting either dubious (13) or no connection (28,29). This warrants more studies.…”

“…It has been noted that intake of fast foods, snacks (5,6), and sweetened beverages (5) has increased among young adults, whereas intake of fruits, vegetables (7), and dairy products (6) has decreased. Various factors such as socioeconomic status (eg, income and/or education) (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16), demographics (eg, sex and ethnicity) (17)(18)(19), and lifestyle characteristics (eg, marital status [20][21][22][23] and physical activity [15,24,25]) have been thought to influence the food choices in this age group. However, the majority of studies conducted in the United States have either examined cost issues with respect to purchasing specific healthful foods (14,(26)(27)(28)(29) or have examined the influence of socioeconomic status on nutrient intakes (30,31) rather than the consumption of specific food groups.…”

Dietary habits mediate the relationship between socio-economic status and CVD factors among healthy adults: the ATTICA study

“…However, after the middle of the 20th century this changed gradually, especially in Westernized countries, so that CVD is currently more common in lower socio-economic groups (6)(7)(8)(9) . Moreover, nowadays observational studies show that low SES individuals are associated with increased prevalence of CVD risk factors, such as hypertension, sedentary life, unhealthy dietary habits, cigarette smoking and high cholesterol (10)(11)(12)(13) . It has been hypothesized that dietary choices may be one of the many factors mediating the relationship between social class and CVD risk.…”