Dietary patterns and their socio-demographic determinants in 10 European countries: data from the DAFNE databank

Abstract

Objective: To describe the dietary patterns of 10 European countries and their socio-demographic determinants, using the comparable between-countries DAFNE data. Design: Analysis of standardized and postharmonized data collected through the national household budget surveys. Setting: Nationally representative surveys undertaken in 10 European countries, generally in the second half of the 1990s. Results: The differences in the fruit and vegetable consumption previously identified between Mediterranean and Northern European countries seem to be leveling out, particularly in relation to fruit consumption. Pulses, however, still characterize the diet of the Mediterraneans. Straying from their traditional food choices, Mediterraneans recorded high availability of unprocessed red meat, while Central and Northern Europeans preferably consumed meat products. The household availability of beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) is generally higher among Central and Northern European populations. Principal component (PC) analysis led to the identification of two dietary patterns in each of the 10 countries. The first was similar in all countries and indicated 'wide-range' food buyers. The second was slightly more varied and described 'beverage and convenience' food buyers. PC1 was common among households of retired and elderly members, while PC2 was common among households located in urban or semi-urban areas and among adult Scandinavians living alone. Conclusions: The dietary patterns identified point towards a progressive narrowing of dietary differences between North and South European countries. The comparable between-countries DAFNE data could prove useful in ecological studies, in the formulation of dietary guidelines and public health initiatives addressing specific population groups. Sponsorship: European Commission.

Validation of the FSA nutrient profiling system dietary index in French adults—findings from SUVIMAX study

“…245 FSA-NPS DI was inversely associated with age in agreement with the fact that older subjects tend to 246 be more health conscious and therefore to have healthier diet. Such an observation has been 247 documented in numerous studies in Western countries [24,[39][40][41][42][43][44]. Consistent with other reports, 248 associations of risk factors, cumulating low fruit and vegetable intakes, low leisure time physical 250 activity and high alcohol consumption [45][46][47].…”

“…Such variability within food groups 37 cannot be grasped by dietary scores based on level of adherence to food-based recommendations. 38 Therefore, assessing overall diet quality accounting for nutritional features of individual foods would 39 give complementary information to currently existing dietary scores. 40 Nutrient profiling systems (NPS) initially aimed at positioning individual foodstuffs based on their 41 nutritional characteristics [10][11][12].…”

Multiple socio-economic circumstances and healthy food habits

“…Logistic regression analysis was used to further examine the associations between socio-economic circumstances and healthy food habits. As previous studies show that age (Johansson et al, 1999;Groth et al, 2001;Naska et al, 2006) and marital status (Roos et al, 1998;Naska et al, 2006) are associated with healthy food habits, and these two variables were adjusted for, as covariates in all models. We started by examining the covariate-adjusted associations between each socio-economic indicator and healthy food habits that is, each socio-economic indicator was first added to the model separately.…”

Is the Mediterranean lifestyle still a reality? Evaluation of food consumption and energy expenditure in Italian and Spanish university students

“…Actually, many studies evaluating dietary habits in Mediterranean countries confirm the change in the Mediterranean eating behaviour towards an unhealthier type of diet (13) , with a progressive narrowing of differences between Northern and Southern Europe (14) .…”