RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDBEARING AND SOME FOOD AND ALCOHOL HABITS -THE NORDLAND HEALTH STUDY

The aim of the study was to describe associations between childbearing pattern (parity and age at first and last birth) and food and alcohol habits in middle aged women. This was done in a cross-sectional surve y of 3576 women aged 40-42 years living in a county in northern Norway , involving 71 percent of all women in the age bracket living in the c ounty. Information about childbearing and food and alcohol habits was obtained from a self-administered questionnaire. High parity was posit ively related to indicators of a high intake of fat and low intake of fruits, vegetables and alcoholic beverages. High age at first birth wa s correlated with presumably healthy food habits and with a high wine and a low spirits consumption. High age at last birth was particularly related to relatively high vegetable and bread consumption and to low frequency of use of beer and spirits. As childbearing pattern and foo d and alcohol habits are correlated, they may be confounders for each other in analyses of risk factors for diseases with complex and multif actorial etiology (e.g. breast or colorectal cancer).