Socio-economic status and health awareness are associated with choice of cooking oil in Costa Rica

Abstract

Objective: To examine the socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of cooking oil choice in Costa Rica during the last decade (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004). Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects (total n ¼ 2274) belonged to the control population of a large case-control study; they were recruited yearly. Data about type of oil used for cooking, dietary intake, socio-economic and demographic characteristics were collected. Setting: A dietitian visited all subjects and conducted the interviews at their homes; all subjects lived in the Costa Rican central valley region. Subjects: Adult, free-living, rural and urban Costa Ricans with no history of myocardial infarction and physical or mental disability. Results: The odds of choosing soybean over palm oil increased significantly each year (P , 0.05) and was determined by high socio-economic status (SES) and variables that suggest health awareness (self-reported history of hypertension, high cholesterol, multivitamin use and intake of green leafy vegetables). The odds of choosing other unsaturated oils, namely corn and sunflower, over soybean oil also increased yearly (P , 0.05) and was associated with the same two factors (high SES and health awareness). Palm oil users remained in the lowest SES tertile and were more likely to live in rural areas. Across all SES tertiles, high health awareness determined the odds of choosing other unsaturated oils over palm oil, and soybean oil (P , 0.05). Conclusion: These data show that, in addition to SES, health awareness is associated with the selection of unsaturated oils over palm oil in a developing country undergoing transition. These data should be considered when targeting nutrition messages and policies that promote better dietary choices.

Seasoning ingredient variety, but not quality, is associated with greater intake of beans and rice among urban Costa Rican adults

“…Participants self-reported the frequency, duration, and intensity (in metabolic equivalents) that they engaged in various physical activities, and total physical activity was calculated by summing energy expenditure from each activity. Due to regional differences in dietary intake observed in previous research, we stratified our sample a priori according to population density into rural and periurban regions (herein referred to as rural) and urban regions [3, 13, 34, 35]. …”

Percepciones sobre disponibilidad de alimentos y autorreporte de ingesta alimentaria en mujeres urbanas costarricenses: Un estudio piloto

“…Sin embargo, no hay estudios que hayan evaluado la variación en disponibilidad de alimentos según NSE entre mujeres latinoamericanas urbanas en edad reproductiva. Sólo unos pocos estudios en América Latina han evaluado la variación en ingesta alimentaria según NSE y esos estudios se enfocaron en un número limitado de alimentos Colón-Ramos et al, 2007;Dressler et al, 2008;Jaime, et al, 2011;Kabagambe et al, 2005). Es necesario contar con un panorama más completo acerca de cómo la disponibilidad y el consumo de alimentos varían según NSE en Costa Rica.…”

The impacts and opportunities of oil palm in Southeast Asia: What do we know and what do we need to know?

“…Considerable research is already being conducted on these issues (see Colon-Ramos et al 2007;Karsulinova et al 2007;Ladeia et al 2008;van Rooyen et al 2008).…”