Education and nutrient intake in Dutch elderly people. The Rotterdam Study

Objective: Unfavourable dietary habits might explain a part of the increase d cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among the lower socioeconomic grou ps. The aim of the study was to describe differences in dietary intake in o lder subjects by socioeconomic status, as indicated by educational level. Design: A cross-sectional analysis of socioeconomic status in relation to d ietary intake. Setting: The Rotterdam Study. Subjects: 2213 men and 3193 women, aged 55 y and over living between 1990 a nd 1993 in a district of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Methods: Dietary data were assessed with a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, containing 170 food items in 13 food groups. Results: In general, the dietary differences between socioeconomic groups w ere small. Lower educated subjects had a higher intake of almost all macron utrients compared with higher educated subjects. The total energy intake of men/women with the lowest educational level differed from those with the h ighest education in the following respect: 9.60/7.54 vs 8.94/7.17 MJ/day. F urthermore, fat composition was more adverse in the lower educated strata, in lower educated subjects, relatively more energy was derived from saturat ed fat (14.5/14.6 vs. 13.8/13.8 energy%), the ratio of polyunsaturated satu rated fat was lower (for men: 0.50 vs 0.55) and the intake of cholesterol h igher (271/220 vs 240/204 mg/day). These differences could be explained by a higher intake of visible fat (46/37 vs 44/34 g/day) and more meat consump tion (130/100 vs 116/86 g/day). In addition, the composition of these produ cts differed: the higher educated used relatively more lean meat and lowfat milk products. Furthermore, the intake of fibre was lower among the lower educated (1.88/2.17 vs 2.03/2.29 g/MJ). Among lower educated groups there w ere more abstainers (15.5/31.5 vs 12.3/26.9%) and the type of alcoholic bev erages also differed between the groups. Intake of antioxidant vitamins fro m food alone did not differ between educational groups. Conclusions: In Dutch elderly people, there are socioeconomic differences i n dietary intake. Although these differences are small, these findings supp ort the role of diet in the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in ca rdiovascular health. Sponsorship: Erasmus Centre for Research on Aging, Erasmus University Rotte rdam. Descriptors: socioeconomic factors, diet; aged.