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Educational differences in dietary intake and compliance with dietary recommendations in a Swiss adult population

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

This study assessed the impact of education on diet and compliance with the national recommendations.

Methods

The study included 4338 adult participants of the Colaus study, a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2009 and 2012 in Lausanne (Switzerland). Education was categorized as primary, apprenticeship, secondary, and tertiary.

Results

Men with primary vs. tertiary education had a lower intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (29.4 vs. 30.9 g/day), iron (11.4 vs. 11.8 mg/day), vitamin A (758.2 vs. 904.2 retinol equivalents/day), and vitamin D (2.3 vs. 3.0 μg/day). Women with primary vs. tertiary education had a lower intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (25.5 vs. 27.4 g/day), fiber (15.6 vs. 17.2 g/day) and iron (9.8 vs. 10.3 mg/day). Men with primary vs. tertiary education had a better compliance with protein recommendations [odds ratio (95 % CI): 2.31 (1.37; 3.90)], while women with primary vs. tertiary education had a better compliance with vitamin A recommendations [odds ratio 1.74 (1.15; 2.65)].

Conclusions

Overall, our results do not confirm a unidirectional association between education and diet, and question the approach of targeted interventions alone in selected educational groups to prevent chronic diseases.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by research Grants from GlaxoSmithKline [Grant 33CSCO-122661] plus the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne [Grant 33CS30-139468].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Ana-Lucia Mayén, Idris Guessous, Fred Paccaud & Silvia Stringhini

  2. Unit of Population Epidemiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Idris Guessous

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

    Idris Guessous

  4. Department of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Pedro Marques-Vidal

Authors
  1. Ana-Lucia Mayén
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  2. Idris Guessous
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  5. Pedro Marques-Vidal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro Marques-Vidal.

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Funding

Ana-Lucia Mayén has received a Swiss Excellence Government scholarship from the Swiss Confederation. Silvia Stringhini has received a research grant [Grant 33CS30-148401 and Ambizione Grant PZ00P3_147998] from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.

Conflict of interest

Ana-Lucia Mayén declares she has no conflict of interest. Idris Guessous declares he has no conflict of interest. Fred Paccaud declares he has no conflict of interest. Silvia Stringhi declares she has no conflict of interest. Pedro Marques-Vidal declares he has no conflict of interest.

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Mayén, AL., Guessous, I., Paccaud, F. et al. Educational differences in dietary intake and compliance with dietary recommendations in a Swiss adult population. Int J Public Health 61, 1059–1067 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0835-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0835-7

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