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Socio-economic disparities in Australian adolescents' eating behaviours
- Source :
- Public health nutrition. 17(12)
- Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- ObjectiveTo assess the association between socio-economic position (SEP) and poor eating behaviours in a large representative sample of Australian secondary-school students.DesignCross-sectional survey of students’ vegetable, fruit, sugar-sweetened beverage and fast-food consumption assessed using validated instruments and collected via a web-based self-report format.SettingSecondary schools across all Australian states and territories.SubjectsSecondary-school students (n 12 188; response rate: 54 %) aged 12–17 years participating in the 2009–10 National Secondary Students’ Diet and Activity (NaSSDA) survey.ResultsOverall, 25 % of students reported consuming ≤1 serving of vegetables/d and 29 % reported eating ≤1 serving of fruit/d. Fourteen per cent of students reported drinking at least 1–2 cups of sugar-sweetened beverages/d while 9 % reported eating fast food ≥3 times/week. After adjusting for other demographic factors, students of lower-SEP areas were more likely to report low intake of vegetables (F(4, 231) = 3·61, P = 0·007) and high frequency of consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (F(4, 231) = 8·41, P < 0·001) and fast food (F(4, 231) = 4·59, P = 0·001) compared with students of high-SEP neighbourhoods. A positive SEP association was found for fruit consumption among female students only (F(4, 231) = 4·20, P = 0·003). Those from lower-SEP areas were also more likely to engage in multiple poor eating behaviours (F(4, 231)=5·80, P < 0·001).ConclusionsResults suggest that socio-economic disparities in Australian adolescents’ eating behaviours do exist, with students residing in lower-SEP neighbourhoods faring less well than those from high-SEP neighbourhoods. Reducing social inequalities in eating behaviours among young people should be a key consideration of future preventive strategies.
- Subjects :
- Male
Adolescent
Medicine (miscellaneous)
Food Preferences
Medicine
Humans
Social inequality
Eating behaviour
Child
Female students
Consumption (economics)
Response rate (survey)
Nutrition and Dietetics
Schools
Socio economic position
business.industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Australia
Feeding Behavior
Diet
Cross-Sectional Studies
Social Class
Socioeconomic Factors
Adolescent Behavior
Female
business
Demography
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14752727 and 13689800
- Volume :
- 17
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Public health nutrition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....fd6354e2dac1327a57ccc99aaeb53fae