FOOD-HABITS IN SWEDISH ADOLESCENTS IN RELATION TO SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Objective: To describe the food habits of Swedish adolescents 14-15 y of age. To analyse the connection between food habits and socioeconomi c circumstances and background factors. Design: Cross-sectional survey using a Food Frequency Questionnaire including questions on meal patt erns. Setting: The city of Goteborg and the County of Alvsborg, Sweden 1996. Subjects: Pupils in the 8th grade in all schools in the city of Goteborg and the County of Alvsborg were in February 1996 invited to participate. The study comprised 7605 pupils. The drop-out rate was 14 .4% (n = 1280). Results: The adolescents had an infrequent consumption of vegetables and fruits and they had a daily consumption of sweets. Cereals, dairy products and snacks: buns, wafers, soft drinks, ice cre am and potato crisps were consumed mote than once a day. Thirty percen t of the girls and 20% of the boys did not sat breakfast every day. Th e free school lunch was eaten daily by 50% of the boys and 30% of the girls, the remainder ate some type of snack. A negative correlation wa s found between smoking and the frequency of vegetable consumption. Pu pils from areas with high socioeconomic status more often ate breakfas t and lunch and the boys more often ate dinner compared to adolescents from areas with low socioeconomic status. Conclusions: An irregular m eal pattern as well as snack consumption and smoking were common, espe cially among girls in areas with low socioeconomic status.