Nutritional status by socioeconomic level in an urban sample from Bilbao (Basque country)

Anthropometry, records of food intake, and bioelectric impedance were gathe red from a sample of 297 adults of both sexes who lived in marginal distric ts in the town of Bilbao and benefited from a program of social assistance. This survey aimed to determine present nutritional status and to ascertain the relationship between food intake and nutritional conditions. A compara tive evaluation of anthropometry and food intake was then carried out using a reference from the Basque Country and a control sample from the same are a but from better-off nutritional and socioeconomic conditions. Males from low socioeconomic status (SES) displayed lower heights and weights compared to the local reference and control sample. They showed higher skinfold thi ckness than males in the local reference but lower thicknesses than those i n the control sample. All anthropometric variables, except height, were hig her in women of low socioeconomic status compared to the local reference an d control sample. Low socioeconomic males had lower estimated percentage of body fat than the control sample, while females showed the opposite patter n. On the other hand, estimates of food intake in males did not reveal grea t differences among samples from different socioeconomic backgrounds, while low SES females had greater intakes of food than the better-off control sa mple. Estimated zinc intake showed differences by SES in both sexes. (C) 20 01 Wiley-Liss, Inc.