Irish descent, religion and food consumption in the west of Scotland

Mortality and morbidity of people of Irish descent in Britain is high, incl uding from cardiovascular causes potentially linked with diet. The west of Scotland has long had a pattern of Irish migration, where migrants were poo rer than the host population, and their different religious background gave rise to prolonged discrimination. This paper uses data collected in 1987/8 8 from the west of Scotland Twenty-07 study to test whether dietary differe nces due to poverty or to other factors have persisted among the descendent s of these migrants. Being born of Catholic parents was the index of Irish descent used, these respondents consumed less of a factor represented by fr uit, yoghurt and vegetables, and more of one represented by snacks and proc essed foods than the rest of the sample. The picture for those reporting cu rrent Catholic affiliation in adulthood was similar. Differences are largel y associated with social class and mediated not by low income but by educat ional disadvantage. The findings suggest the continuation a diet affected b y limited opportunities for social mobility, and thus by obstacles to susta ined educational advancement, among the descendants of Irish migrants even after several generations. (C) 2000 Academic Press.