Socio-economic circumstances and food habits in Eastern, Central and Western European populations

Abstract

Objective To assess the relationship between several socio-economic indicators and frequency of consumption of seven predefined healthy foods (consumption of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain bread, vegetable-fat spread, vegetable cooking fat, low-fat milk and low-fat cheese) in populations from Eastern, Central and Western Europe. Design Analysis of baseline data collected in two cross-sectional cohort studies between 2000 and 2005: the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) study and the Finnish Helsinki Health Study (HHS). Setting Urban populations in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Finland. Subjects In the HAPIEE study, random samples of men and women aged 45–69 years were drawn from population registers and electoral lists of selected cities. In the HHS, men and women aged 40–60 years employed by the City of Helsinki were recruited. Data on 21 326 working subjects from both cohorts were analysed. Results Healthy food habits were, in general, positively associated with higher education, occupational position and fewer economic difficulties, but there were differences in the strength of the gradient by food and country. Fruit consumption showed the most consistent gradients, especially in relation to socio-economic status among men (country-specific relative index of inequality (RII) = 2·02–5·17) and women (RII = 2·09–3·57). Conclusions The associations between socio-economic indicators and healthy food habits showed heterogeneity between countries. Future studies of dietary behaviours should consider multiple measures of socio-economic position.

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

“…Although numerous studies on the association between SEP and the intake of different groups of AF have been conducted, few of them have examined the independent effect of socio-economic indicators (13,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22) . They showed that findings were not systematically concordant with those of studies using a single SEP. For instance, when adjusted for occupation or income, education was not associated, or was inversely associated, with cheese intake (20,22) , while a large majority of studies using only one SEP indicator showed higher cheese intake among individuals with higher socio-economic status.…”

Review Article Socio-economic determinants of micronutrient intake and status in Europe: a systematic review

“…Available data that stem from methodologically comparable nutritional surveillances have studied intake and/or status of a few micronutrients within limited life stages, whereas literature reviews have predominantly focused on the relationship between SES and intakes of macronutrients or specific food groups and food patterns (e.g. fat, fruits and vegetables) (1,(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) . Furthermore, the studies have been performed primarily in adults, while children and the elderly might be more vulnerable to insufficiencies.…”

The differences in selected health-related behaviour indicators among women with different educational attainment in Slovenia / Razlike v izbranih kazalnikih vedenj, povezanih z zdravjem, med različno izobraženimi ženskami v Sloveniji

“…At the same time, they also connect with other unfavourable healthrelated behaviour factors (3,(9)(10). Unhealthy eating and activity habits, which are seen in the nutrition status as overweight and obesity, are seen to a greater extent in women with a lower educational attainment (8,9,24) and over 40% of obesity in women can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic status (24). Even though education has been proven to be a factor of differences, our data indicates that in some cases it is not the key factor.…”

“…The sample is not weighed by education. The chosen independent variables are: education, age, community type, region of residence, the presence of a partner and children and self-perceived social class (8)(9)(10). The dependent variables were typical health-related behaviours.…”

“…Among the demographic factors that are usually analysed, gender and education level stand out. Studies that analyse a greater number of socioeconomic or demographic factors are rare (8). One of the consequences of this research practice is maintaining the impression that gender is a homogenous category.…”