Educational attainment, perceived control and the quality of women's diets (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Health Psychology, 2003
Health promoting behaviours seem to be more prevalent among people with higher socio-economic status (SES). The main purpose of this article was to study (a) the relationship between education (as a dimension of SES) and intention and health behaviour (fruit/vegetable consumption), (b) the relationship between education and control conceptualizations (health locus of control (HLC), responseefficacy and self-efficacy) and (c) to what extent the relationship between education and intention/health behaviour (fruit/vegetable consumption) was mediated through different control beliefs. The results showed that women with higher education had higher intentions to consume fruit/vegetables and consumed fruit/vegetables more frequently. Higher education was associated with higher selfefficacy and response-efficacy beliefs and less belief in HLCchance. These control beliefs partly mediated the education-intention/behaviour relationship.
Constraints on food choices of women in the UK with lower educational attainment
Public Health Nutrition, 2008
Objective: Women of lower educational attainment have less balanced and varied diets than women of higher educational attainment. The diets of women are vital to the long-term health of their offspring. The present study aimed to identify factors that influence the food choices of women with lower educational attainment and how women could be helped to improve those choices. Design: We conducted eight focus group discussions with women of lower educational attainment to identify these factors. We contrasted the results of these discussions with those from three focus group discussions with women of higher educational attainment. Setting: Southampton, UK. Subjects: Forty-two white Caucasian women of lower educational attainment and fourteen of higher educational attainment aged 18 to 44 years. Results: The dominant theme in discussions with women of lower educational attainment was their sense that they lacked control over food choices for themselves and their families. Partners and children exerted a high degree of control over which foods were bought and prepared. Women's perceptions of the cost of healthy food, the need to avoid waste, being trapped at home surrounded by opportunities to snack, and having limited skill and experience with food, all contributed to their sense they lacked control over their own and their family's food choices. Conclusions: An intervention to improve the food choices of women with lower educational attainment needs to increase their sense of control over their diet and the foods they buy. This might include increasing their skills in food preparation.
Gender, socioeconomic status and family status as determinants of food behaviour
Social Science & Medicine, 1998
This study examines social structural and family status factors as determinants of food behaviour. The data were derived from the FINMONICA Risk Factor Survey, collected in Finland in spring 1992. A multidimensional framework of the determinants of food behaviour was used, including social structural position, family status and gender. The associations between the determinants of food behaviour were estimated by multivariate logistic regression models, adjusted for age and regional differences. Food behaviour was measured by an index including six food items which were chosen based on Finnish dietary guidelines. In general, women's food behaviour was more in accordance with the dietary guidelines than that of men. The pattern of association between educational level and food behaviour was similar for both genders, but slightly stronger for men than women. Employment status was associated only with women's food behaviour, but the tendency was the same for men. Marital status was associated with men's as well as women's food behaviour. The food behaviour of married men and women was more in line with the dietary guidelines than the food behaviour of those who had been previously married. Parental status, however, was only associated with women's food behaviour, that is, the food behaviour of women with young children was more closely in line with the dietary guidelines than that of the rest of the women.
European journal of nutrition, 2017
To examine the underlying reasons for the positive relation between socio-economic status (SES) and the diet quality of adolescents. In 2081 adolescents (12.5-17.5 years) of the European HELENA study, a continuous variable on diet quality via 2-day 24-h recalls was available. SES was reflected by parental education, parental occupation and family affluence. Mediation by several psychosocial determinants was tested: self-efficacy, availability at school and home, social support, barriers, benefits, awareness and some self-reported influencers (parents, school, taste, health, friends, food readily available, easy preparation, hunger, price and habits). Multiple mediation analyses were adjusted for age, sex and country. The availability of soft drinks and fruit at home, social support, parental influence, barriers, price influence, taste influence, health influence and food being readily available were significant mediators. The multiple mediation indirect effect accounted for 23-64% o...
Multiple socio-economic circumstances and healthy food habits
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007
Objective: To examine associations between seven indicators of socioeconomic circumstances and healthy food habits, while taking into account assumed temporal order between these socioeconomic indicators. Design and setting: Data were derived from cross-sectional postal questionnaires in 2000-2002. Socioeconomic circumstances were assessed by parental education, childhood economic difficulties, own education, occupational class, household income, home ownership and current economic difficulties. Healthy food habits were measured by an index consisting of consumption of fresh vegetables, fruit or berries, rye bread, fish and choosing vegetable fats on bread and oil in cooking. Sequential logistic regression models were used, adjusting for age and marital status. Participants: Employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland (n ¼ 8960, aged 40-60 years). Results: Healthy food habits were reported by 28% of women and by 17% of men. Own education, occupational class, household income, home ownership and current economic difficulties were associated with healthy food habits. These associations were attenuated but mainly remained after mutual adjustments for the socioeconomic indicators. Among women, a pathway was found suggesting that part of the effects of education on food habits were mediated through occupational class. Conclusions: Employees in higher and lower socioeconomic positions differ in their food habits, and those in lower positions and economically disadvantaged are less likely to report healthy food habits. Health promotion programmes and food policies should encourage healthier food choices among those in lower socioeconomic positions and among those with economic difficulties in particular. Sponsorship: Academy of Finland.
Predictors of maternal control over children's eating behaviour
Appetite, 2002
The aim of the study was to investigate the determinants of the level of control mothers exert over the food intake and eating behaviour of their young children. Questionnaires assessing maternal perception of child's weight status, control over food intake, body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint were completed by 89 mothers of 5±8-year-old children (40 boys, 49 girls). It was found that there was little difference between the control of boys' and girls' eating, but that the pattern of correlations was different. In particular, mothers' dietary restraint predicted the degree of monitoring of daughters', but not sons', eating behaviour, even when actual and perceived weight of the child were taken into account. It was concluded that the degree of control over child-feeding might provide a behavioural mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of eating attitudes and beliefs within families.
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Background The aims of this study are 1) to investigate the association between maternal educational level and healthy eating behaviour of 11-year-old children (fruit, vegetables and breakfast consumption), and 2) to examine whether factors in the home food environment (parental intake of fruit, vegetables and breakfast; rules about fruit and vegetables and home availability of fruit and vegetables) mediate these associations.Methods Data were obtained from the Dutch INPACT study. In total, 1318 parent¿child dyads were included in this study. Multilevel regression models were used to investigate whether factors of the home food environment mediated the association between maternal educational level and children¿s healthy eating behaviour.ResultsChildren of mothers with a high educational level consumed more pieces of fruit per day (B¿=¿0.13, 95% CI: 0.04-0.22), more grams of vegetables per day (B¿=¿23.81, 95% CI¿=¿14.93-32.69) and were more likely to have breakfast on a daily basis ...
Public Health Nutrition
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of FPPs, including home availability of different types of foods and drinks, parental modelling of fruit intake, permissiveness, and the use of food as a reward, in the relationship between parental education and dietary intake in European children. Design: Single mediation analyses were conducted to explore whether FPPs explain associations between parents' educational level and children’s dietary intake measured by a parent-reported food frequency questionnaire. Setting: 6 European countries. Participants: Parent–child dyads (n = 6705, 50.7% girls, 88.8% mothers) from the Feel4Diabetes-study. Results: Children aged 8.15 ± 0.96 years were included. Parental education was associated with children’s higher intake of water, fruits, and vegetables and lower intake of sugar-rich foods and savoury snacks. All FPPs explained the associations between parental education and dietary intake to a greater or lesser extent. Specif...
Educational Attainment and Dietary Lifestyles
2017
In this chapter, we draw on health lifestyle, human capital, and health commodity theories to examine the effects of educational attainment on a wide range of individual dietary behaviors and dietary lifestyles. Using data from the 2005-2006 iteration of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 2,135), we employ negative binomial regression and binary logistic regression to model three dietary lifestyle indices and thirteen healthy dietary behaviors. We find that having a college degree or higher is associated with seven of the thirteen healthy dietary behaviors, including greater attention to nutrition information (general nutrition, serving size, calories, and total fat) and consumption of vegetables, protein, and dairy products. For the most part, education is unrelated to the inspection of cholesterol and sodium information and consumption of fruits/grains/sweets, and daily caloric intake. We observe that having a college degree is associated with healthier dietary lifestyles, the contemporaneous practice of multiple healthy dietary behaviors (label checking and eating behaviors). Remarkably, household income and the poverty-to-income ratio are unrelated to dietary lifestyles and have virtually no impact on the magnitude of the association between education and dietary lifestyles. Our findings are consistent with predictions derived from health lifestyle and human capital theories. We find no support for health commodity theory, the idea that people who are advantaged in terms of education live healthier lifestyles because they tend to have the financial resources to purchase the elements of a healthy lifestyle.