Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T05:33:23.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dietary patterns and their associations with demographic, lifestyle and health variables in a random sample of British adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Margaret J. Whichelow  and
A. Toby Prevost
Margaret J. Whichelow*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 2SR
A. Toby Prevost
Affiliation:
Centre for Survey Data Analysis, Department of Social Statistics, The University, Highfield, Southampton SO17 IDJ
*
*Correspondence to be sent to Margaret J.Whichelow.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The present study aimed to identify dietary patterns, from the frequency of consumption of food items and some semiquantitative data, in a random sample of 9003 British adults, and to examine the associations of the main dietary patterns with demographic factors, lifestyle habits, measures of self- reported health and mortality. Principal component analysis was used to identify four main dietary patterns, and analysis of variance employed to examine the characteristics associated with them. The four components explained, respectively, 10·2, 7·3, 5·1 and 4·9% of the total dietary variation. Component 1, frequent fruit, salad and vegetable consumption with infrequent consumption of high-fat foods, was associated with middle age, non-manual socio-economic groups, non- and ex-smokers, ‘sensible’ drinkers, small households, the south of the country, and self-assessed ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ health. Component 2, frequent consumption of high-starch foods, most vegetables and meat, was popular with young men, older men and women, large households, non-smokers, non-drinkers and those who viewed themselves as healthy. Component 3, frequent consumption of high-fat foods, was predominantly consumed by young people, smoking women, ‘high-risk’ drinkers, and men reporting many illness and/or malaise symptoms. Component 4, high positive loadings for sweets, biscuits and cakes, with negative weightings for vegetables, was most favoured by students, the elderly, those living alone, residents in Scotland, but not those in central England, and those who did not smoke. For women only the first component was associated with low all-cause mortality, and the third component with excess mortality

Keywords

Dietary patternsLifestyleHealth
Type
Human and Clinical Nutrition
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 76 , Issue 1 , July 1996 , pp. 17 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1996

References

REFERENCES

Abel, T. & McQueen, D. V. (1994). Determinants of selected unhealthy eating behaviours among male and female adults. European Journal of Public Health 4, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, A. S. & Hunt, K. (1992). Who are the ‘healthy eaters’? Eating patterns and health promotion in the west of Scotland. Health Education Journal 51, 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, A. S., Macintyre, S. & West, P. (1994). Dietary patterns among adolescents in the West of Scotland. British Journal of Nutrition 71, 111–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barker, M. E., McClean, S. I., Thompson, K. A. & Reid, N. G. (1990). Dietary behaviours and socio-cultural demographics in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Nutrition 64, 319–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, M. (1987). Sample and data collection. In The Health and Lifestyle Survey, pp. 1–3. Cambridge: Health Promotion Research Trust.Google Scholar
British Nutrition Foundation (1985). Eating in the Early 1980s, p. 19. London: The British Nutrition Foundation.Google Scholar
Cattell, R. B. (1966). The Scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behaviour Research 1, 245–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, B. D., Blaxter, M., Buckle, A. L. J., Fenner, N. P., Golding, J. F., Gore, M., Huppert, F. A., Nickson, J., Roth, M., Stark, J., Wadsworth, M. E. J. & Whichelow, M. J. (1987). The Health and Lifestyle Survey: A Preliminary Report of a Nationwide Survey of the Physical and Mental Health, Attitudes and Lifestyle of a Random Sample of 9003 British Adults. Cambridge: Health Promotion Research Trust.Google Scholar
Cox, B. D., Huppert, F. A. & Whichelow, M. J. (1993). The Health and Lifestyle Survey: Seven Years On. Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Fehily, A. M., Phillips, K. M. & Yarnell, J. W. G. (1984). Diet, smoking, social class and body mass index in the Caerphilly Heart Disease Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40, 827–833.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fehily, A. M., Vaughan-Williams, E., Shiels, K., Williams, A. H., Horner, M., Bingham, G., Holliday, R. M., Sweetnam, P. M. & Burr, M. L. (1991). Factors influencing compliance with dietary advice: the Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART). Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 4, 33–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gex-Fabry, M., Raymond, L. & Jeanneret, O. (1988). Multivariate analysis of dietary patterns in 939 Swiss adults: socio-demographic parameters and alcohol consumption profiles. International Journal of Epidemiology 17, 548–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, J., Foster, K., Tyler, H. & Wiseman, M. (1990). The Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults. London: H. M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Mardia, K. V., Kent, J. T. & Bibby, J. M. (1979). Multivariate Analysis, p. 236. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Payne, C. D. (1985). The GLZM System, Release 3.77. Oxford: Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd.Google Scholar
Royal Colleges of Physicians, Psychiatrists and General Practitioners(1995). Alcohol and the Heart in Perspective: Sensible Limits Reaffirmed. London: Royal College of Physicians.Google Scholar
SPSSX (1990). SPSS Advanced Users Guide. Chicago: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
Strachan, D. P., Cox, B. D., Erzinclioglu, S. W., Walters, D. E. & Whichelow, M. J. (1991). Ventilatory function and winter fresh fruit consumption in a random sample of British adults. Thorax 46, 624–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whichelow, M. J. (1987). Dietary habits. In The Health and Lifestyle Survey, pp. 67–84. Cambridge: Health Promotion Research Trust.Google Scholar
Whichelow, M. J. (1989). Choice of spread by a random sample of the British population. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 1–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Whichelow, M. J., Erzinclioglu, S. W. & Cox, B. D. (1991 a). Some regional variations in dietary patterns in a random sample of British adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 45, 253–262.Google Scholar
Whichelow, M. J., Erzinclioglu, S. W. & Cox, B. D. (1991 b). A comparison of the diets of non-smokers and smokers. British Journal of Addiction 86, 71–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whichelow, M. J. & Treasure, F. P. (1990). Diet and health in a random sample of British adults. Proceedings of the nutrition Society 49, 57A Abstr.Google Scholar