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  • Original Article
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Associations between food patterns, socioeconomic position and working situation among adult, working women and men in Oslo

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 1150–1157 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Socioeconomic disparities in diet are well documented, but the relative importance of different indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP) is not well known. The aim of this study was to explore relationships between food patterns, SEP (occupation, education and income) and degree of work control.

Subjects/Methods:

A cross-sectional population-based study 2000–2001, using three self-administered questionnaires including food frequency questions (FFQs). Factor analysis was used to explore food patterns. Participants include 9762 working Oslo citizens, 30–60 years of age, having answered the questionnaires with <20% of the FFQ missing.

Results:

Four food patterns were found: Western, prudent, traditional and sweet. In multivariate analyses, the likelihood of having a high intake of the Western pattern was lowest in the two highest educational groups (women: odds ratio (OR)=0.54/OR=0.75; men: OR=0.51/OR=0.76), and in the two highest occupational groups for men (OR=0.73/OR=0.78). The odds of having a high intake of the prudent pattern was highest in the two highest educational groups (women: OR=2.50/OR=1.84; men: OR=2.23/OR=1.37), and among the self-employed (women OR=1.61, men OR=1.68), as well as in the highest occupational group for men (OR=1.33). Women always having work control were least likely to have high intake of the Western pattern (OR=0.78) and most likely to have high intake of the prudent pattern (OR=1.39).

Conclusions:

The SEP indicators were in different ways related to the food patterns, but the effect of occupation and income was partly explained by education, especially among women. Women's work control and men's occupation were important for their eating habits.

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Acknowledgements

The data collection was conducted as part of the Oslo Health Study carried out in 2000–2001 as a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Oslo City Council and the University of Oslo. No external funding was used. All authors contributed in the conception and the writing of the article. Statistical analyses were executed by MKRK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Institute for Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    M K Råberg Kjøllesdal & M Wandel

  2. Department of General Practice and Community Medicine, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    G Holmboe-Ottesen

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  1. M K Råberg Kjøllesdal
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  2. G Holmboe-Ottesen
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  3. M Wandel
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Correspondence to M K Råberg Kjøllesdal.

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Råberg Kjøllesdal, M., Holmboe-Ottesen, G. & Wandel, M. Associations between food patterns, socioeconomic position and working situation among adult, working women and men in Oslo. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 1150–1157 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.116

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