STRUCTURAL, MATERIAL AND ECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON THE FOOD-PURCHASING CHOICES OF SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS

Australian and overseas studies have found that respondents in low soc ioeconomic groups are least likely to purchase food that accords with recommendations in dietary guidelines. British and United Slates resea rchers have proposed that this consistently observed association is pa rtly due to structural, material and economic factors that differentia lly affect socioeconomic groups, This study tested that proposition. S pecifically, this study examined the notion that socioeconomic variabi lity in food-purchasing choices are in part a function of the availabi lity, accessibility and affordability of food recommended by dietary g uidelines. Data collected from socioeconomic groups in the general com munity, and information provided by welfare recipients living in low-i ncome areas of Brisbane and Logan city provided little support for thi s notion. Although significant differences were found between socioeco nomic groups in terms of their food-purchasing choices, most responden ts from all socioeconomic groups shopped at large supermarkets where r ecommended food was readily available, few reported difficulties obtai ning access to these facilities, and the price difference between reco mmended and regular foods was, in most cases, small or nonexistent. Th is evidence leaves largely unanswered the question of why socioeconomi c groups differ in their food-purchasing behaviours.