Dietary Intake according to Gender and Education: A Twenty-Year Trend in a Swiss Adult Population

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Pedro Marques-Vidal, Lausanne University Hospital; Eirini Rousi, Lausanne University Hospital; Fred Paccaud, Lausanne University Hospital; Jean-Michel Gaspoz, Geneva University Hospitals; Jean-Marc Theler, Geneva University Hospitals; Murielle Bochud, Lausanne University Hospital; Silvia Stringhini, Lausanne University Hospital; Idris Guessous, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2015-11-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu7115481
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nutrients
• ISSN: 2072-6643
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 9558
• End Page: 9572
• Grant/Funding Information: The “Bus Santé” study is funded by the University Hospitals of Geneva and the General Directorate of Health, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.; Silvia Stringhini is supported by an Ambizione Grant (no. PZ00P3_147998) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).; Eirini Rousi was supported by a PhD grant (ref. 406940_145187) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
• Keywords: FOOD AVAILABILITY; COUNTRIES; epidemiology; UNITED-STATES; educational level; Nutrition & Dietetics; DISEASE; ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION; SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS; gender; PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY; Switzerland; SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION; RISK-FACTORS; trends; nutrients; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Science & Technology; population-based study; adult; QUALITY; public health
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Nutrition; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

We assessed trends in dietary intake according to gender and education using repeated cross-sectional, population-based surveys conducted between 1993 and 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland (17,263 participants, 52.0 ± 10.6 years, 48% male). In 1993-1999, higher educated men had higher monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), carotene and vitamin D intakes than lower educated men, and the differences decreased in 2006-2012. In 1993-1999, higher educated women had higher fiber, iron, carotene, vitamin D and alcohol intakes than lower educated women, and the differences decreased in 2006-2012. Total energy, polyunsaturated fatty acids, retinol and alcohol intakes decreased, while mono/disaccharides, MUFA and carotene intake increased in both genders. Lower educated men had stronger decreases in saturated fatty acid (SFA) and calcium intakes than higher educated men: multivariate-adjusted slope and 95% confidence interval -0.11 (-0.15; -0.06) vs. -0.03 (-0.08; 0.02) g/day/year for SFA and -5.2 (-7.8; -2.7) vs. -1.03 (-3.8; 1.8) mg/day/year for calcium, p for interaction <0.05. Higher educated women had a greater decrease in iron intake than lower educated women: -0.03 (-0.04; -0.02) vs. -0.01 (-0.02; 0.00) mg/day/year, p for interaction = 0.002. We conclude that, in Switzerland, dietary intake evolved similarly between 1993 and 2012 in both educational groups. Educational differences present in 1993 persisted in 2012.