Association between socioeconomic status and diet quality in Mexican men and women: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Examining the potential differences in diet quality among socioeconomic status (SES) subgroups in Mexican adults may help to explain SES disparities in the burden of non-communicable diseases. We determined the association between SES, gender and diet quality among Mexican adults. We analyzed data from adults participating in the subsample with dietary information from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 (n = 2,400), and developed the Mexican Diet Quality Index based on the Mexican Dietary Guidelines. We tested the interaction between sex and SES indicators using multivariable linear regression models. Sex was not a modifier; therefore, the analyses were carried out in the overall sample of men and women. The mean age was 42 (SE = 0.4) years, the total diet quality score was 38 (SE = 0.4), and a high percentage of men and women were classified with reading/writing skills or 3–9 years of school. A higher percentage of adults were classified with high versus medium or low assets index. In the multivariable model further adjusted for the assets index, for adults with education in the reading and/or 3–9 years of schooling and those with ≥10 years of school, there was a 3.7 and 5.8 points lower total diet quality score than with adults with no reading/writing skills (p < 0.05). Likewise, in multivariable model further adjusted for educational level, the total diet quality score was 2.5 points and 3.3 points lower in adults classified with medium and high assets index, respectively, versus low assets index (p < 0.05). The difference between individuals with medium and high assets index was not statistically significant. Although there is currently better diet quality among adults with low SES, this needs to continue to be monitored as Mexico progress through the nutrition transition.

A Priori and a Posteriori Dietary Patterns among Pregnant Women in Johannesburg, South Africa: The NuPED Study

“…Nevertheless, it is important to note that the finding by Doyle et al [55], in which women of a higher social gradient followed a diet of higher quality, was based on data mainly from high-income countries. This disparity in findings with regard to determinants for dietary patterns between highincome and middle-income countries was also reported by López-Olmedo et al [72] who indicated individuals from a lower socioeconomic status in Mexico to follow a higher quality diet than individuals from higher socioeconomic status.…”

Trends in Diet Quality and Related Sociodemographic, Health, and Occupational Characteristics among Workers in Spain: Results from Three Consecutive National Health Surveys (2006–2017)

“…When analyzing the predictors of diet quality in our study, women were found to have an increased diet quality score compared with men. Similar results have been obtained in other studies [ 15 , 60 , 61 ], and this could be explained by the fact that women are more health-conscious than men, and they may be more worried about the quality of their foods as well as having different job roles or shorter working hours, which may allow female workers to have more control over dietary choices [ 60 , 62 , 63 ]. However, in another study, no associations were found between those variables [ 64 ].…”

Exposure to PM2.5 and Obesity Prevalence in the Greater Mexico City Area

“…We were able to control for SES, which may be considered a surrogate for the omitted predictors, and this may have reduced unmeasured associations from omitted BMI predictors. As noted above, lower SES was associated with higher PM 2.5 exposure; if SES can be a surrogate for diet quality, PM 2.5 could be considered an obesogenic if lower SES was associated with lower diet quality; however, higher SES has been previously associated with a lower diet quality in this population [ 49 ]. Future studies should include diet quality to better investigate this complex relation.…”