Organic food consumption is associated with a healthy lifestyle, socio-demographics and dietary habits: a cross-sectional study based on the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort

Abstract

Objective: To study the association between organic food consumption and lifestyle, socio-demographics, and dietary habits. Design: Cohort participants completed detailed questionnaires about organic food consumption, diet, and lifestyle between 1999 and 2002. Polytomous logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between organic food consumption, and lifestyle, socio-demographics, and dietary habits. Setting: This cross-sectional study uses data from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort. Participants: A total of 43,209 men and women aged between 54 and 73 years were included in the study. Results: Overall, 15% reported never consuming organic food, 39% had low organic food consumption, 37% had medium organic food consumption and 10% had high organic food consumption. The relative risk of consuming organic food versus never consuming organic food was highest among women, persons with body mass index <25 kg/m2, persons with low alcohol intake, persons participating in sports, persons who did not smoke or were former smokers, and among persons who adhered to the Danish national dietary guidelines. Associations were more distinct with higher levels of organic food consumption. Conclusion: Based on a historical cohort of Danish adults, organic food consumption was associated with a generally healthy lifestyle, more favorable socio-demographics, and dietary habits. These findings have to be considered in the adjustment strategy for future studies linking organic food consumption with health outcomes.

The influence of Slovak consumer lifestyle on purchasing behaviour in the consumption of organic food

“…Researchers have investigated the role of various lifestyle variables in consumer behaviour in response to numerous situations in which even life-cycle data could not explain why two households with identical demographic profiles might exhibit radically different behaviour in the marketplace (Gunter and Furnham, 2014;Grunert, 2019). Andersen et al (2022) examined the influence of lifestyle on organic food consumption in more detail. The follow-up also included questions regarding eating habits, smoking/non-smoking, physical activity, but also questions such as BMI.…”

Sustainable diets and risk of overweight and obesity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The Sustainability Diet Index 36 is a score with a maximum of 20 points summed up using four subindices encompassing environmental, nutritional, economic, and sociocultural aspects. Kesse‐Guyot et al utilized an Organic Score ranging between 0 and 32 points across 18 food groups, and Andersen et al 34 used an overall organic food score ranging from 6 to 24 points. Gosling et al 33 used both a food propensity questionnaire and a 24HR to investigate frequency of organic food consumption across 12 food groups.…”

“…All studies used standard BMI categories according to the WHO as outcome variables. The number of adjustment factors varied between 6 22 and 15 33,34 variables per study (Table 1).…”

“…Those studies yielded a total of 438,020 participants at baseline and ultimately 170,923 participants in the analytic sample. Six studies originated from Europe, 22,24,26,[32][33][34] one from North America, 20 and one from South America. 21 Three studies 22,26,32 were based on the same cohort (NutriNet-Santé); however, we integrated all estimates in our main models because the time span of the data collection and the sustainability indices used to assess the exposure of the data collection were distinct in each study.…”

Organic Food Consumption and Risk of Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Data from a descriptive study conducted in Germany demonstrated that most organic food consumers exhibit lower body weight than non-consumers [ 26 ]. In addition, a recent Danish study observed that people with generally healthy lifestyles, physical activities, and dietary habits were more likely to eat organic food [ 27 ]. Recent studies on organic food consumption have also highlighted that people turned to organic food due to concerns about the potentially harmful effects of pesticide residues on consumer health [ 28 , 29 , 30 ].…”