Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference
Background/aimsEvidence points toward more sustainable and health-conscious dietary behaviors among individuals with higher socioeconomic status. However, these differences vary considerably depending on which indicator of socioeconomic status is examined. Here, we present a systematic parallel inve...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.993379/full |
| _version_ | 1811249514548297728 |
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| author | Urte Klink Jutta Mata Roland Frank Benjamin Schüz |
| author_facet | Urte Klink Jutta Mata Roland Frank Benjamin Schüz |
| author_sort | Urte Klink |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/aimsEvidence points toward more sustainable and health-conscious dietary behaviors among individuals with higher socioeconomic status. However, these differences vary considerably depending on which indicator of socioeconomic status is examined. Here, we present a systematic parallel investigation of multiple indicators of socioeconomic status as predictors of animal food consumption frequency and selected food-related behaviors in Germany.MethodsData from the German subsample of two large representative European consumer studies (Study 1 n = 1,954; Study 2 n = 2,045) was used. We assessed the associations between the socioeconomic indicators income, current occupation as well as education and consumption frequency of animal foods and selected food-related behaviors in separate ordinal logistic regressions.ResultsIndividuals with higher educational attainment engaged in more sustainable and health-conscious dietary behaviors, indicated by significant associations between educational attainment and the consumption frequency of animal foods. Low- and middle-income participants consumed processed meat more frequently (Study 1 only; medium income: OR 1.5, CI 1.09–2.05, p = 0.012; low income: OR 1.43, CI 1.01–2.05, p = 0.047) and fish less frequently (Study 2 only; medium income: OR 0.76, CI 0.59–0.97, p = 0.026; low income: OR 0.061, CI 0.46–0.82, p < 0.001) than participants with high income. Current occupation did not predict the consumption of animal foods or food-related behaviors. Intake frequency of animal-based foods indicates that most participants exceeded national dietary recommendations for meat and processed meat and remained below recommendations for fish and dairy/eggs intake.ConclusionEducational attainment appears to be the strongest and most consistent socioeconomic indicator of sustainable dietary choices in Germany based on current large, representative studies. Future efforts should be directed toward education interventions about nutrition and interpretation of food labels to compensate for differences in dietary behavior among groups with different levels of education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:47:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9836f5ed213f4cf584fe3addf3d0a9a9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-861X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:47:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj.art-9836f5ed213f4cf584fe3addf3d0a9a92022-12-22T03:26:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Nutrition2296-861X2022-11-01910.3389/fnut.2022.993379993379Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a differenceUrte Klink0Jutta Mata1Roland Frank2Benjamin Schüz3Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research, Prevention and Health Promotion, University of Bremen, Bremen, GermanyHealth Psychology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, GermanyGfK Verein, Nürnberg, GermanyInstitute for Public Health and Nursing Research, Prevention and Health Promotion, University of Bremen, Bremen, GermanyBackground/aimsEvidence points toward more sustainable and health-conscious dietary behaviors among individuals with higher socioeconomic status. However, these differences vary considerably depending on which indicator of socioeconomic status is examined. Here, we present a systematic parallel investigation of multiple indicators of socioeconomic status as predictors of animal food consumption frequency and selected food-related behaviors in Germany.MethodsData from the German subsample of two large representative European consumer studies (Study 1 n = 1,954; Study 2 n = 2,045) was used. We assessed the associations between the socioeconomic indicators income, current occupation as well as education and consumption frequency of animal foods and selected food-related behaviors in separate ordinal logistic regressions.ResultsIndividuals with higher educational attainment engaged in more sustainable and health-conscious dietary behaviors, indicated by significant associations between educational attainment and the consumption frequency of animal foods. Low- and middle-income participants consumed processed meat more frequently (Study 1 only; medium income: OR 1.5, CI 1.09–2.05, p = 0.012; low income: OR 1.43, CI 1.01–2.05, p = 0.047) and fish less frequently (Study 2 only; medium income: OR 0.76, CI 0.59–0.97, p = 0.026; low income: OR 0.061, CI 0.46–0.82, p < 0.001) than participants with high income. Current occupation did not predict the consumption of animal foods or food-related behaviors. Intake frequency of animal-based foods indicates that most participants exceeded national dietary recommendations for meat and processed meat and remained below recommendations for fish and dairy/eggs intake.ConclusionEducational attainment appears to be the strongest and most consistent socioeconomic indicator of sustainable dietary choices in Germany based on current large, representative studies. Future efforts should be directed toward education interventions about nutrition and interpretation of food labels to compensate for differences in dietary behavior among groups with different levels of education.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.993379/fullsocioeconomic statuseating behaviordietsustainable dietanimal foods |
| spellingShingle | Urte Klink Jutta Mata Roland Frank Benjamin Schüz Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference Frontiers in Nutrition socioeconomic status eating behavior diet sustainable diet animal foods |
| title | Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference |
| title_full | Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference |
| title_fullStr | Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference |
| title_short | Socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption: Education rather than income makes a difference |
| title_sort | socioeconomic differences in animal food consumption education rather than income makes a difference |
| topic | socioeconomic status eating behavior diet sustainable diet animal foods |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.993379/full |
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